The Effect of Experimentally Decreasing Sedentary Behaviour on Subjective Well-being

• Change from pre-randomization self-reported Physical Activity at 1-week post-intervention and 1-week follow-up[ Time Frame: Baseline, 1-week post-intervention, and 1-week follow-up ]
  Average self-reported total weekday and weekend time spent in moderate and vigorous physical activities in the last 7 days will be assessed through the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Seven - Short Form Past 7 Days (IPAQ-S7S). Participants report how many days per week (0-7) and how many hours/minutes per day they spent engaged in vigorous and moderate intensity physical activity, as well as walking.
• Change from pre-randomization self-reported Sedentary Behaviour at 1-week post-intervention and 1-week follow-up[ Time Frame: Baseline, 1-week post-intervention, and 1-week follow-up ]
  Average self-reported weekday and weekend domain-specific time spent sedentary over the past 7 days will be assessed through the modified SIT-Q 7d questionnaire. Participants indicate on a scale of responses the range of times that best correspond to the average amount of time they spent sedentary on weekdays/weekends in domains of: Sleeping and Napping, Meals, Transportation, Occupation(s), Screen Time, and Other Activities, during the past 7 days. Response ranges typically span 30 minutes to 1 hour (e.g., Less than 30 minutes, 1-2 hours). Average total sitting time per weekday will be assessed through a single question on the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Seven - Short Form Past 7 Days (IPAQ-S7S): "During the last 7 days, how much time did you spend sitting on a weekday?" Average total sitting time per day; assessed through the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Seven - Short Form Past 7 Days (IPAQ-S7S)
• Change from pre-randomization Depression at 1-week post-intervention and 1-week follow-up[ Time Frame: Baseline, 1-week post-intervention, and 1-week follow-up ]
  Depressive symptomatology will be assessed through the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The CES-D scale is a short self-report scale designed to measure depressive symptomatology in the general population. Participants indicate how often in the past week they have felt or behaved for each of the 20 feelings/behaviors in the scale. Options range from: rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day), some or little of the time (1-2 days), occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-5 days), and most or all of the time (5-7 days). These options correspond to a score of either: 0, 1, 2, or 3, depending on the framing of the question. A total score is achieved through summing the scores for all 20 questions; scores range from 0-60, with lower scores indicating a lower symptomatomology for depression. A clinical cut-off point of 20 has been recommended.
• Change from pre-randomization Anxiety (State) at 1-week post-intervention and 1-week follow-up[ Time Frame: Baseline, 1-week post-intervention, and 1-week follow-up ]
  State anxiety will be assessed through the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) Form Y-1. Participants read each of the 20 statements and then write the number in the blank at the end of the statement that indicates how they feel right now (i.e., at this moment). Responses range from: 1 - not at all, to 4 - very much so; these response correspond to a score of 1-4 for anxiety-related items, and 4-1 for anxiety-absent items. A total score is obtained by summing the scores for each question. Total scores range from 20-80, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety. A cut point of 39-40 has been suggested to detect clinically significant symptoms for the State Anxiety scale.
• Change from pre-randomization objectively-measured Sedentary Behaviour at 1-week post-intervention and 1-week follow-up[ Time Frame: Baseline, 1-week post-intervention, and 1-week follow-up ]
  Average objectively-reported weekday and weekend time spent sedentary over the past 7 days will be assessed through the ActivPAL4 inclinometer. Participants will wear the device on their thigh for a period of 7 days. The inclinometer is able to track and distinguish between sitting, standing, and other non-sedentary behaviours. The ActivPAL software can be used to extract data from the device to form daily levels of sedentary behaviour over the last 7 days. Activity can then be averaged to form a weekly average of time spent sedentary.

This study will explore the causality between outcomes of subjective well-being and sedentary behavior, through experimentally decreasing the sedentary behavior levels of university students. Half of the eligible participants will receive a behavioral counseling intervention to increase non-sedentary behavior over one week, while the other half will receive no instructions. After one week, all participants will receive no instructions and continue to wear the inclinometer for another week.

• Behavioral: HAPA behavioural counseling
  Behavioural counseling grounded in the Health Action Process Approach (i.e., action planning and coping planning) to reduce sedentary behaviour.

• Experimental: Intervention Group
  The intervention group will receive a pedometer and HAPA behavioural counseling with the aim of reducing their daily sedentary behaviour to <7 hours per day, over a one week period. Counseling strategies will be grounded in the HAPA model - specifically, creating an action plan and coping strategies for reducing their daily sedentary behaviour. Strategies may include: setting an alarm while studying to break up sedentary behaviour, to stand rather than sit on transit, and/or to achieve an active step profile (i.e., ≥10,000 steps a day) through pedometer self-monitoring.
• No Intervention: Control Group
  The control group will not receive any behavioural intervention.