Rehearsal and pedometer reactivity in children

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether rehearsal, defined as the tendency to recurrently ruminate over upsetting aversive experiences, had an effect on pedometry reactivity. A total of 156 Hong Kong Chinese children aged 9-12 years were recruited. Participants completed the Rehearsal Scale for Children-Chinese (RSC-C; Ling, Maxwell, Masters, & McManus, 2010) and wore the pedometers for 3 consecutive weeks. The mean number of steps was significantly higher in Week 1 than in Week 3. High rehearsers showed a larger decrease in mean number of steps from Week 1 to Week 3 than low rehearsers. Future physical activity intervention studies should adjust for reactivity in their baseline measurements and should further examine the relationship between habitual PA and individual propensities for rehearsal.