title: Exercise Self-Efficacy as a Mediator between Goal-Setting and Physical Activity: Developing the Workplace as a Setting for Promoting Physical Activity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Physical activity (PA) is ranked as a leading health indicator and the workplace is a key setting to promote PA. The purpose of this study was to examine how goal-setting and exercise self-efficacy (SE) during a health promotion program influenced PA level among Japanese workers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a cross-sectional study design, we surveyed 281 employees. The short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to assess PA level. Exercise SE was assessed using a partially modified version of Oka's exercise SE scale. Personal goals were assessed as the total numbers of "yes" responses to five items regarding "details of personal goals to perform PA". A mediational model was used to examine whether exercise SE mediates between the number of personal goals and PA level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the participants was 46.3 years, 76.2% were men, and the most common occupational category was software engineer (30.6%). The average PA level per week exceeded the recommended level in 127 participants (45.2%). One hundred and eighty-four participants (65.5%) set some form of concrete personal goal to perform PA. The relationship between the number of personal goals and PA level was mediated by exercise SE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed that exercise SE mediates goal-setting and increases PA. The results suggest that the components of PA promotion programs should be tailored to enhance participants' confidence in performing PA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Intelligence Systems, Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Fukuoka, Japan; Department of Health Care, NEC Corporation, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Sumihisa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Intelligence Systems, Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Intelligence Systems, Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kurishima
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Ayumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care, NEC Corporation, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ayumu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kakinuma
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Intelligence Systems, Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Doosub
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jahng
keywords: exercise self-efficacy; goal-setting; health promotion program; physical activity; workplace