Time displacement and confidence to participate in physical activity

Background: Time spent on sedentary behaviors is often blamed for low physical activity rates, but tests of time displacement are limited. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine time-graded assessments of self-efficacy to engage in physical activity compared to either high- or low-ranked sedentary leisure behaviors among a workplace sample. Several demographic factors were examined as moderators of time displacement. Methods: Participants were a worksite sample of 2,009 men and women who completed measures of demographics, physical activity, and self-efficacy after performing a thought listing procedure to generate their most-/least-preferred sedentary leisure-time behaviors. Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance across four gradients of available leisure-time (20, 30, 60, 120 min) showed some evidence of displacement (20 min less confident than 120 min) when considering their most preferred sedentary behavior but not their least preferred. These results, however, were moderated by age, occupational work hours, free time, education, and physical activity status. Conclusion: Targeted interventions for young professionals with high work hours and limited physical activity experience seem prudent in order to improve their self-efficacy to achieve regular physical activity through sedentary behavior control.