An objective measure of reinforcement and its implications for exercise promotion in sedentary Hispanic and Anglo women

An objective measure for the assessment of exercise and sedentary activity choices was evaluated for reliability in 38 sedentary women, aged 18-45, in El Paso, TX. Twenty-two Hispanic women and 16 Angle women participated An equal number of obese and nonobese women comprised each group of participan ts. Using five computer-generated slot. machine games, participants were al lowed to earn points for access to a bicycle/stair stepper or videos/magazi nes. Exercise alternatives remained easily accessible while the sedentary c hoices became progressively difficult to access. Two sessions were complete d at least 2 weeks apart for reliability. Reliability for choosing to be ph ysically active from session to session was r(1) = .83 for all participants , r(1) = .90 for Hispanics, and r(1) = .74 for Angles. Hispanic women earne d twice the number of points for access to exercise (m = 20 +/- 2, 40% of t he available points) as Angle women (m = 10 +/- 3; 20% of the available poi nts), independent of body mass index (BMI) or socioeconomic status (SES). H ispanic women's choices to exercise were independent of acculturation level ; however Hispanic women of higher SES and lower BMI chase to exercise more than Hispanic women of lower SES and higher BMI. Hispanic women may find e xercise more reinforcing than Angle women, which has important implications for exercise interventions. In addition, results indicated that self-repor ted liking and enjoyment of exercise were not related to the choice to actu ally engage in exercise. The behavioral economic methods presented in this study provide preliminary results to support the use of an objective, relia ble method to assess the determinants of exercise and sedentary activity ch oices in sedentary, Hispanic and Anglo women.