A Tailored Exposure Intervention for Exercise Anxiety and Avoidance in Cardiac Rehabilitation
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Summary
Behavioral Exposure for Interoceptive Tolerance (BE-FIT) is a mechanism-informed behavioral intervention to target exercise anxiety. The three primary components of BE-FIT include: (1) exposure to feared bodily sensations and exercise; (2) prevention of safety behavior use before/during/after exercise, and (3) use of a wrist-worn activity monitor for physical activity (PA) feedback and activity goal setting. Evidence from the investigators' Stage I trial indicated that BE-FIT is feasible, acceptable, and safe and produced reductions in exercise anxiety and increased exercise outcomes (short-term moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity and steps/day). The investigators' present aim is to conduct a Stage II randomized-controlled trial to further evaluate the efficacy of BE-FIT in decreasing exercise anxiety in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) patients and examine whether changes in this target yield successive changes in exercise adherence outcomes.
Description
This study is a Stage II randomized-controlled trial of a novel behavioral intervention, titled Behavioral Exposure for Interoceptive Tolerance (BE-FIT), to evaluate (1) its efficacy in improving exercise adherence in CR and (2) its mechanisms of change in individuals 40 years of age and older. One hundred and forty-six patients enrolled in Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJ) cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program who have elevated exercise anxiety, as indicated by endorsement of much to very much concern about at least 3 items on the Exercise Sensitivity Questionnaire (ESQ; Farris et a…