Christiansen et al., 2010: Reflecting, planning, and setting goals to exercise more increased physical capacity among chronic pain patients over three months
Reference:
Summary:
Chronic pain patients who, in addition to conventional care at an outpatient pain center, completed a 1-hour intervention focused on goal setting with regard to exercise. The intervention comprised (1) mental contrasting (listing positive aspects of exercising more and obstacles to this), (2) problem-solving to overcome these obstacles using a cognitive-behavioral approach, and (3) implementation intentions using “If…then…” statements (e.g., “If I am afraid of hurting myself, then I will remember that movement is good against pain”). As compared to patients who received only conventional care, those in the treatment condition had greater physical capacity along both behavioral measures and subjective ratings 3-weeks after discharge and 3-months after returning home.