Using Goal-Setting and Performance Feedback to Increase Adults' Daily Walking

Abstract

Obesity has become a problem of social significance in the United States, particularly among adults. Physical activity, such as walking, can help combat the negative health effects of obesity and is a suitable target for intervention. The package intervention of goal-setting and performance feedback have emerged as a promising tool to increase physical activity. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of goal-setting and performance feedback with a pedometer as a method of increasing daily walking and step counts of adults. This study used the range-bound changing criterion design and the traditional changing criterion design to examine the effects of the package intervention for adults in their natural day-to-day settings. This study extended previous research implementing goal-setting and performance feedback as a package intervention. Keywords: Goal-setting, performance feedback, walking, steps, adults, pedometer, range-bound changing criterion design.