Goal Setting Moderates Behavior Change Outcomes in College Students After an Online Health Coaching Intervention

ABSTRACT

Background

Health coaching sessions that incorporate goal setting may help improve college students' health behaviors.

Purpose

This study examined whether specific goal-setting practices moderated changes in health behaviors during an online wellness intervention in college students.

Methods

Participants were 90 college students recruited from one US university. The intervention was a one-hour virtual one-on-one health coaching session where participants set two goals for either physical activity (Metabolic Equivalent Task (MET)-minutes or MET-minutes), nutrition, sleep, or stress management. Self-reported baseline behaviors were collected, and follow-up surveys were completed at 6- and 12-weeks. Mixed effects models examined behavior change outcomes across the follow-up timepoints while testing the moderating effect of goal setting using interactions.

Results

The Goal×Time interaction was significant for moderate MET-minutes at 1^st follow-up (b = 443, p = .003), and for total MET-minutes at the 2^nd follow-up (b = 717, p = .047). The Goal×Time interaction was also significant for stress management at 1^st follow-up (Odds Ratio = 7.3, p = .042).

Discussion

Participants who set physical activity and stress management goals had significantly higher physical activity and utilized more stress management techniques.

Translation to Health Education Practice

The use of specific goal-setting strategies for physical activity and stress management is recommended during online health coaching sessions.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the students who participated in this study, the health coaches, and the graduate assistants who aided in the data collection process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Salt Lake County Health Department, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, with software support from the University of Utah Clinical Translational Science Institute funded by NCATS/NIH [UL1TR002538].