Tested the efficacy of an internet intervention consisting of a web site plus 12 weekly e-mail tip sheets, compared with a waiting list control group. 65 sedentary adult hospital employees were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 study arms. Of the 65 Ss, 57 completed the 1-mo follow-up, and 52 completed the 3-mo follow-up. At both 1 and 3 mo, those in the intervention group were significantly more likely to have progressed in stage of motivational readiness for physical activity (PA) than controls. We hypothesized that at 1 and 3 mo, the intervention group would exhibit significant increases versus the control group on the number of minutes of moderate activity. At the 1-mo assessment, the intervention group showed significant increases, relative to the control group in moderate minutes; however, at 3-mo this difference was no longer significant. In addition, at 1-mo, the intervention group showed significant increases, relative to the control group, in walking minutes. At the 3-mo assessment, amount of time spent in walking activity continued to be significantly higher for the intervention group versus the control group. These findings show that a theoretically based PA web site and weekly e-mail tip sheets can have a short-term impact on PA motivation and behavior both at 1 and 3 months.

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