Habits are important factors that help guide the performance of health behaviours, yet little is known about how habits form following a major context change. To observe the habit trajectory of physical activity engagement and assess the relationship between habit trajectory and theoretical determinants of habit formation, a longitudinal design was used to track physical activity habit trajectory over 12 weeks during COVID-19 lockdowns. Participants (N = 41) selected a cue related to physical activity, to assist in increasing their engagement. At baseline, and every two days, participants reported their behaviour, habit, and cue exposure. Trait self-control, history of physical activity behaviour, and demographic information were also collected at baseline. Physical activity habit strength significantly increased from baseline to the final assessment 12 weeks later; however substantial variability was observed in growth over time and neither the linear nor the logarithmic growth model provided a good fit at the overall level. Nonetheless, higher levels of self-control were significantly related to faster habit strength formation. Individual differences in habit formation require further investigation to better understand why some individuals form habits while others do not.
McAlpine et al. (Thu,) studied this question.