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The purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine the current effectiveness of physical activity (PA) interventions to change affective judgements (AJ) and subsequent behaviour and explore potential moderators. Eligible studies were published in a peer-reviewed English journal and included an experimental design in the PA domain with a measure of AJ as the dependent variable, among adults (>17 years). Literature searches concluded in July 2017 using 11 common databases, with additional hand searching conducted in February 2018. The search yielded 32 independent studies. Random-effects meta-analysis showed positive changes in AJ favouring intervention over control groups, g = 0.43 (95% CI = 0.26-0.60). These changes predicted (β = 0.64) positive changes in PA, g = 0.38 (95% CI = 0.16-0.60), among a sub-sample (k = 14) of studies that also provided behavioural data. Moderator analyses showed the effects were inflated by potential publication bias, participant gender, baseline PA and focus of the intervention. AJ may show change from intervention but larger sample studies are required to obtain a more reliable effect size estimate. Further, few studies have employed behaviour change techniques that would align with the theoretical reasons for changes in AJ, so our evidence for practical intervention content is limited.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to (i) investigate directional influences of self-efficacy, outcome satisfaction, and attendance during an exercise programme and (ii) examine the predictive capabilities of self-efficacy and outcome satisfaction on participant dropout.Methods: Adults aged 35-65 years were recruited to a 12-month exercise programme. Self-efficacy was collected at baseline, three, six, nine, and 12 months, and outcome satisfaction at the same time-points except baseline. Cross-lagged panel analyses and logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the primary and secondary objectives, respectively.Results: Coping and scheduling self-efficacy had stronger reciprocal relationships with outcome satisfaction than task self-efficacy, although the strength of these relationships varied across time. Initially, task self-efficacy predicted programme attendance. Midway through the programme, outcome satisfaction predicted attendance, and by the end of the programme, coping self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of attendance. Self-efficacy and outcome satisfaction did not predict programme dropout.Conclusions: The results support the reciprocal relationship between outcome satisfaction and scheduling and coping self-efficacy and highlight the importance of sequentially targeting different beliefs and skills to facilitate successful initiation and maintenance of exercise behaviour. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Self-efficacy and outcome satisfaction are related to exercise behaviour. The relationship between self-efficacy and outcome satisfaction are typically considered unidirectional. The longitudinal relationships among self-efficacy, outcome satisfaction, and physical activity participation are unclear. What does this study add? Outcome satisfaction had reciprocal relationships with both coping and scheduling self-efficacy for exercise. The importance of self-efficacy and outcome satisfaction to exercise attendance changes over time. Task self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of initial programme attendance. Midway through the programme, outcome satisfaction and task self-efficacy were the strongest predictors of attendance, and by the end of the programme, coping self-efficacy was the strongest predictor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]