# Daily Life Studies on Dynamic Within-person Fluctuations of Self-efficacy in the Physical Activity Context: A Scoping Review

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how self-efficacy for physical activity changes within individuals over short time periods, suggesting it fluctuates more within days than across days.

## Contribution

The study is the first scoping review to systematically examine micro-temporal fluctuations of self-efficacy in physical activity using ecological momentary assessment.

## Key findings

- Self-efficacy for physical activity varies significantly within individuals across time, with within-person variance ranging from 51% to 89%.
- Most studies used multiple daily assessments to capture self-efficacy fluctuations in the hours following each assessment.
- Self-efficacy items were theory-based but varied in semantics and conceptual features due to contextual adaptations.

## Abstract

Cutting-edge dual process health behavior theories propose micro-temporal within-person processes to be critical drivers of physical activity participation. Self-efficacy is the pivotal motivation-oriented correlate of physical activity, a key component across the most prominent health behavior change theories, and has predominantly been researched as stable interpersonal ‘trait’ factor. However, the micro-temporal within-person ‘state’ perspective on self-efficacy remains uncharted.

To tackle this research gap, we conducted a scoping review and examined (1) time-sensitive (i.e., assessment time span) and (2) theory-conform operationalization of self-efficacy measures as well as (3) within-person variance reports from ecological momentary assessment studies in the physical activity context among healthy adults.

A scoping review of English articles using PsycINFO, PsycArticles, PSYNDEX, SPORTDiscus and PubMed was conducted up to September 2025. Eligible studies focused on (1) physical activity in (2) healthy adults aged + 18 years and (3) applied multiple within-day, daily or weekly assessments of self-efficacy. Findings were summarized through quantitative analysis of the evidence.

A total of 13 studies was included. Most studies assessed self-efficacy through multiple assessments per day and with a focus on the near future (i.e., next few hours post ecological momentary assessment). The 13 identified self-efficacy items were operationalized according to self-efficacy theory, but varied in semantics, psychometrics, and source. Five studies reported intraclass correlation coefficients that revealed self-efficacy within-person variance to range between 51% and 89%.

Given the pivotal role of self-efficacy across various health-behavior theories and the recent relevance attributed to micro-temporal within-subject processes, thus far surprisingly few studies researched how self-efficacy unfolds within-persons across time. However, the few studies identified provide initial evidence that self-efficacy varies within individuals across time in everyday life, including a tendency towards higher within-person variance for momentary versus day level assessments, and thereby empirically supporting dual process models. Items were assessed dynamically using repeated measures per day and according to theory but differed in conceptual and semantic features. Future research is encouraged to further investigate how self-efficacy unfolds across time, by testing various sampling strategies and applying advanced designs to shed light on the precise timing of effects and to inform adaptive and expedient intervention development.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40798-025-00973-z.

We reviewed the latest ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies examining self-efficacy fluctuations for physical activity, and we provide in-depth insights towards time-dynamical research in the health behavior field.EMA items reviewed were operationalized according to self-efficacy theory, but they differed in semantic and conceptual characteristics due to necessary adaptations for capturing context specific self-efficacy (i.e., related to assessment time span and self-efficacy type) rather than reflecting measurement inconsistencies.Most EMA studies employed multiple electronic diary assessments per day aiming to capture self-efficacy across a few hours post assessment. Future research should combine various sampling strategies to obtain a more comprehensive, dynamic picture of how self-efficacy unfolds in daily life to shed light on the precise timing of effects.Overall, self-efficacy appears to fluctuate within rather than across days. These finding call for future studies to rationalize sampling scheme decisions, in order to optimally capture fluctuations in self-efficacy within a day for expedient and individualized health behavior change.

We reviewed the latest ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies examining self-efficacy fluctuations for physical activity, and we provide in-depth insights towards time-dynamical research in the health behavior field.

EMA items reviewed were operationalized according to self-efficacy theory, but they differed in semantic and conceptual characteristics due to necessary adaptations for capturing context specific self-efficacy (i.e., related to assessment time span and self-efficacy type) rather than reflecting measurement inconsistencies.

Most EMA studies employed multiple electronic diary assessments per day aiming to capture self-efficacy across a few hours post assessment. Future research should combine various sampling strategies to obtain a more comprehensive, dynamic picture of how self-efficacy unfolds in daily life to shed light on the precise timing of effects.

Overall, self-efficacy appears to fluctuate within rather than across days. These finding call for future studies to rationalize sampling scheme decisions, in order to optimally capture fluctuations in self-efficacy within a day for expedient and individualized health behavior change.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40798-025-00973-z.