Abstract
A growing body of research highlights that adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have poor health outcomes, yet effective health interventions are lacking for this population. While mobile health applications demonstrate potential for promoting physical activity (PA) in adults with ASD, scientific evidence for supporting this tool’s long-term effectiveness on PA behavior change remains inconclusive. This study aimed to provide the latest information on PA research and the prospective role of mobile health applications for promoting PA in adults with ASD. A literature review demonstrated that a few available studies show contradictory results regarding PA levels in adults with ASD, and behavior change techniques and gamification-guided mobile health applications can be promising tactics to leverage autism’s strengths and increase PA in these individuals. Optimizing design decisions based on needs analysis and user feedback is crucial to identifying and developing a sustainable mobile health intervention for PA promotion in adults with ASD.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 635105 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Volume | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 24 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was supported by the ACSM Foundation Doctoral Student Research Grant from the American College of Sports Medicine Foundation (#19-01155).
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2021 Lee.
Keywords
- adults with autism
- behavior change techniques
- gamification
- mHealth application
- physical activity