Promoting Walking Among Older Adults Through Affective Communication and Step-Monitoring

NCT07570303 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 6069838_48_26
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,000
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Physical inactivity increases substantially after age 60 and represents a major public health challenge in older adults, as it is linked to increased risk of functional and cognitive decline and aging problems. Walking is one of the most accessible and recommended forms of light-to-moderate physical activity for this population. However, promoting sustained engagement in walking remains difficult, as traditional informational approaches often fail to activate personally meaningful motivations. This study tests whether persuasive affective messages can promote walking by leveraging self-continuity, meaning the use of autobiographical memory to maintain the sense of being the same person across time and contexts, connecting the past, present, and future self. Self-continuity is associated with psychological resources such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, and a sense of meaning in life. The affective mechanism that sustains self-continuity is nostalgia: both promote emotional and behavioral regulation and support goal achievement. Building on this framework, the present trial examines whether activating feelings of self-continuity and positive nostalgic memories can strengthen older adults' motivation to engage in walking behavior. In addition, the study investigates whether combining self-continuity messaging with a self-regulation strategy (daily step monitoring) enhances intervention effectiveness. Self-monitoring is a well-established behavioral technique that supports goal pursuit by increasing awareness and feedback. Using a 4-arm randomised controlled factorial design, the study compares the effects of self-continuity messages, step-monitoring reminders, their combination, and an active control condition on walking behaviour and its psychological determinants. A national sample of 1,000 Italian adults aged 65-74, recruited through a certified panel provider (Ipsos) and balanced for age, gender, and geographic region, will be randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. All participants will receive one message per day through a mobile application over a 14-day period. Participants in the step-monitoring conditions will also be asked to track and report their daily step count using a pedometer application. Behavioral, psychological, and process measures will be collected at baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up. The study therefore aims to provide experimental evidence on the role of self-continuity as a motivational driver of health behaviour change, and to clarify whether combining affective and self-regulatory strategies enhances intervention effectiveness in older adults.

Conditions

Walking; Older Adults (65 Years and Older); Messaging; Mobile Applications; Psychosocial Factors; Health Behaviour

Keywords

health behaviour change; physical activity; walking; older adults; persuasive communication; messages; self-monitoring; self-continuity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Walking Frequency and Duration at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up

  Assessed by International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Version (IPAQ). Higher scores (mean daily time spent in walking activities, number of days per week with walking activity, and mean time spent in walking activities multiplied by the number of days per week with walking activity) indicate greater self-reported walking activity over the past week and in a usual week.

  Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks

• Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Walking Intensity at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up

  Assessed by International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Version (IPAQ). Higher scores indicate greater self-reported walking intensity over the past week and in a usual week, with 3 ordinal response options: slow, moderate, and vigorous intensity.

  Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks

• Change from Baseline in Daily Step Count at 2-Week Post-Intervention as Measured Via Pedometer App

  Higher self-reported step counts indicate greater walking activity over the past week and in a usual week.

  Baseline and 2 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (13)

• Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Sedentary Behaviour Duration at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up

  Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks

• Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Light Physical Activity Frequency and Duration at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up

  Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks

• Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Moderate Physical Activity Frequency and Duration at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up

  Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks

• Change from Baseline in Self-Reported Vigorous Physical Activity Frequency and Duration at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up

  Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks

• Change from Baseline in Pedometer Usage and Usage Frequency (Past Week) at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up

  Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks

Other Outcomes (5)

• Change from Baseline in Self-Continuity at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up

  Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks

• Change from Baseline in State Nostalgia at 2-Week Post-Intervention and 4-Week Follow-up

  Baseline and 2 weeks and 4 weeks

• Change from Baseline in Temporal Comparison at 2-Week Post-Intervention

  Baseline and 2 weeks

Study Arms (4)

Control

OTHER

Participants assigned to this arm will receive daily messages about the benefits of recommended daily water intake via the PsyMe app over 14 days.

Behavioral: Water intake messages

Self-continuity

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants assigned to this arm will receive daily messages via the PsyMe app over 14 days. These messages are designed to prompt recall of personally relevant past experiences and to promote walking behavior.

Behavioral: Self-continuity prompts

Step-monitoring

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants assigned to this arm will receive daily reminders to monitor and record their step count through a step-tracking application via the PsyMe app over 14 days.

Behavioral: Step-monitoring reminders

Self-continuity + Step-monitoring

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants assigned to this arm will receive daily messages via the PsyMe app over 14 days. These messages combine prompts recalling relevant past experiences and promoting walking behavior with reminders to monitor and record their daily step count.

Behavioral: Self-continuity prompts; Behavioral: Step-monitoring reminders

Interventions

Self-continuity prompts BEHAVIORAL

The Day 1 introductory message presents a daily walking goal consistent with WHO recommendations and informs participants that subsequent messages describe the benefits of walking. Participants will be encouraged to pursue the physical activity goal according to their individual capabilities. Messages delivered from Day 2 to Day 13 aim to activate different positive nostalgic experiences related to walking and movement, including past memories, emotions, bodily sensations, personal values, and self-concepts. The messages link walking behaviour to such positive experiences using counterfactual formulations (e.g., "If you walk a little more today, you may reconnect with sensations your body knows well."). Message openings vary and include exclamatory statements, memory prompts, or rhetorical questions. The Day 14 message concludes the intervention.

Self-continuity; Self-continuity + Step-monitoring

Step-monitoring reminders BEHAVIORAL

The Day 1 introductory message presents a daily walking goal consistent with WHO recommendations and informs participants that subsequent messages prompt them to monitor their daily step count. Participants will be encouraged to pursue the physical activity goal according to their individual capabilities. Messages delivered from Day 2 to Day 13 provide reminders to monitor step counts throughout the day using the pedometer app and to record the total number of daily steps in PsyMe at the end of the day (e.g., "During the day, monitor your step count using the pedometer app. This evening, record the total number of steps in the app."). The Day 14 message concludes the intervention.

Self-continuity + Step-monitoring; Step-monitoring

Water intake messages BEHAVIORAL

The Day 1 introductory message presents a daily water-intake goal consistent with standard recommendations and informs participants that subsequent messages describe the benefits of adequate hydration. Participants will be encouraged to pursue the goal according to their individual capabilities. Messages delivered from Day 2 to Day 13 provide brief information about different beneficial effects of adequate water intake and link hydration to each outcome using counterfactual formulations (e.g., "If you drink the recommended amount of water today, you may support your energy levels and help prevent lapses in concentration"). Message openings vary and include exclamatory statements, memory prompts, or rhetorical questions. The Day 14 message concludes the intervention.

Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years - 74 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age between 65 and 74 years
• Willingness and ability to install and use the mobile applications required for study participation
• Sufficient proficiency in the Italian language to understand study materials and complete the questionnaires.

You may not qualify if:

• \- Physical disabilities or medical conditions that preclude engagement in light to moderate physical activity, specifically:
• medical advice or prescription prohibiting engagement in light to moderate physical activity, assessed via a close-ended screening question;
• positive screening on a study specific close-ended question assessing ability to perform physical activity;
• positive screening on the adapted revised Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (rPAR-Q), indicating that participant may be unsafe.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Catholic University, Italy: lead
• IPSOS: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Milan)

Milan, Milan, 20123, Italy

Location

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MeSH Terms

Conditions

Motor Activity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Patrizia Catellani, Social Psychology

  Catholic University, Italy

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Patrizia Catellani, PhD in Social Psychology

CONTACT

393356741468; patrizia.catellani@unicatt.it

Valentina Carfora, PhD in Social Psychology

CONTACT

393338569908; valentina.carfora@unicatt.it

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Full Professor

Model Details: The study is a randomized controlled trial with four parallel arms and allocation ratio 1:1:1:1. Participants will be recruited through a certified panel provider on the basis of eligibility criteria, and randomly assigned to one of four conditions: control, self-continuity, step-monitoring, or self-continuity + step-monitoring. Randomization will be implemented by the panel provider after informed consent is obtained through the delivery of access codes that direct participants to an arm-specific version of PsyMe. The intervention will last 14 days with one message delivered via the PsyMe app every day at the same hour. The content of the messages varies depending on the condition. Self-report data will be collected via questionnaires uploaded on Qualtrics and administered through the PsyMe app at three time points: baseline (T1, before the start of messaging intervention), post-intervention (T2, immediately after the 14-day messaging period), and follow-up (2 weeks after T2).

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 30, 2026
• First Posted: May 6, 2026
• Study Start: June 1, 2026
• Primary Completion: August 1, 2026
• Study Completion: August 1, 2026
• Last Updated: June 12, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Time Frame: They will be made available before

Locations

IT (1)