【Background】Recently, the physical activity determinants including psycho-behavioral factors in Western Countries have been studied. The findings of these studies are applied to physical activity intervention in community health promotion projects or occupational health promotion programs. However, in Japan, few studies examining physical activity have focused on psycho-behavioral factors, which can be applied to physical activity intervention for Japanese. 【Purpose】The purpose of this study was to examine the association between Stage of Change in Exercise Behavior (SOC) and social, psychological and physical factors based on the Transtheoretical Theory. 【Method】The subjects were 254 white-collar workers working in Tokyo (male: 186, female: 68, mean age+/-SD : 41.7+/-12.5 years old). The subjects completed questionnaires to assess SOC, social factors and psychological factors. The psychological factors included exercise self-efficacy, perceived benefits of exercise perceived barriers to exercise and self-evaluation of personal exercise for health. At the same time, blood sampling and measurement of physical characteristics were performed. Regular exercise was defined as more than three times a week. 【Results】Subjects were classified into four groups, Precontemplation (PC) (28.3%), Contemplation (C) (36.6%), Preparation (PR) (28.0%), and Action/Maintenance (AC/MT) (7.1%). Three social factors (free time during the weekend, social support from friends, social support from colleagues in workplace), four psychological factors (exercise self-efficacy, three perceived benefits of exercise: psychological, social and self improvement, three perceived barriers to exercise : discomfort, social support and effort and self-evaluation of personal exercise for health) showed significantly different profiles depending on the SOC. Particularly, psychological profiles were dramatically different at each SOC. Physical factors were not significantly different among SOC. 【Conclusion】Social and psychological profiles were different depending on SOC. The results of this study demonstrate the utility of the transtheoretical theory for physical activity intervention in the Japanese population.

DESCENTE SPORTS SCIENCE Vol.20/THE DESCENTE AND ISHIMOTO MEMORIAL FOUNDATION FOR THE PROMOTION SPORTS SCIENCE