The Supporting Her In Navigating Exercise Program: Examining Peer Support to Promote Exercise Among Undergraduate Women

The SHINE (Supporting Her In Navigating Exercise) Program: A Pilot Study Examining Peer Support as an Exercise Promotion Tool Among Undergraduate Women Initiates

The purpose of this randomized controlled pilot trial is to test the effectiveness of a six-week tailored physical activity program with and without peer mentoring on the psychological constructs and exercise behaviour of inactive undergraduate women. The objectives are to:

• Quantify the degree to which a peer-mentorship intervention affects exercise motivation determined through three basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness).
• Examine general psychological distress and exercise engagement throughout the study.
• Qualitatively explore participants' experiences following the completion of the program using an open-ended survey to gain a better understanding of its impact.

Researchers will compare the parallel arm conditions to see how the inclusion of social support impacts exercise engagement.

Participants will be asked to engage in exercise three times a week at the campus gym; those in the intervention condition will have an assigned peer-mentor who will join them for one weekly session and virtually communicate with them between sessions.

This study aims to explore the use of social support as an exercise promotion tool among undergraduate women who don't exercise or who do so occasionally.

Senior undergraduate and graduate women at Lakehead University were recruited as study mentors for this research project. These individuals were required to have a health background with expertise in physical activity, engage in 150 minutes of exercise per week, be familiar with the university's fitness facility, and be willing to help others become more active. Once confirmed, mentors were trained via a two-hour workshop, focusing on program roles and responsibilities, motivational strategies, physical activity structuring, and communication/confidentiality guidelines.

For participants to be considered eligible, they need to engage in , once deemed eligible via an eligibility questionnaire, all participants will engage in a baseline orientation session. During this session, they will meet with the student researcher in a private room in the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse at Lakehead University. During this meeting, the duo will review the information letter/participant rights, and if in agreement, the participant will provide informed consent. Once this occurs, the participant will complete a baseline survey that includes a number of measures (e.g., demographic questions, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire, and Psychological Needs Satisfaction in Exercise Questionnaire), and have their height and weight recorded. They will then create a confidential Strava account, to enable exercise tracking and friend the SHINE Program account. Following this, participants will receive a facility tour, where the student researcher will show them around the campus fitness facility and demonstrate how to use some equipment in each space. Once the facility tour is completed, the student researcher will select a sequentially numbered opaque envelope sealed by the research team, indicating which condition the participant will be assigned to. Participants assigned to the exercise condition will be invited to ask questions as their orientation has concluded, while intervention participants will review communication guidelines, create a GroupMe account, and be assigned to a mentor based on mutual availability.

All participants in this study will be asked to engage in exercise three times a week for 30 minutes at the campus gym facility. Individuals assigned to the intervention condition will be joined by their peer-mentor in one of these sessions once a week and be asked to engage in virtual communications in between sessions.

This will continue for 6-weeks, with additional data collection occurring at weeks 3 and 6. Upon completion of the study at week 6, participants will be asked to complete an open-ended exit questionnaire to explore their program experiences.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Identify as a woman
• Full-time undergraduate student at Lakehead University
• Classified as an exercise initiate (e.g., report one or fewer bouts of exercise per week)
• Reported an absence of health risks that would interfere with exercise engagement as determined by the Get Active Questionnaire
• Able to commute to Lakehead's campus
• Want to become more active
• Have access to online technology (e.g., email, zoom)
• Can speak, read, and write in English fluently

Exclusion Criteria:

• Identify as a man
• Not enrolled as a full-time undergraduate student at Lakehead University
• Report the presence of health risks that would interfere with exercise engagement
• Meet the national physical activity guidelines (e.g., 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per week)
• Unable to commute to campus
• Lack of access to technology
• Not fluent in English