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Background <p>Although pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) often intend to engage in physical activity (PA), they may struggle to translate these intentions into action. Self-control could support PA goal pursuit among this population, as it enables individuals to prioritize health goals over immediate rewarding temptations, such as the urge to rest or sedentary leisure. However, the role of self-control has received limited attention in the existing studies. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how pregnant women with GDM use self-control to bridge the gap between PA intention and behavior in daily life.</p> Methods <p>A descriptive qualitative study was conducted. 24 pregnant women with GDM were recruited using purposive sampling at a tertiary hospital in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China, from April to May 2025. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using qualitative content analysis.</p> Results <p>Three themes were identified: conflict between the pursuit of PA goals and temptations, context-adaptive self-control strategies for PA, and dynamics of self-control for PA during pregnancy. Despite strong PA intentions driven by concerns for maternal and fetal health, pregnant women with GDM reported conflicts between their goals and temptations, with rationalization of temptations emerging as a key psychological process linked to reduced PA engagement. To manage this conflict, pregnant women with GDM employed four types of self-control strategies: internal drive strategies based on health cognition and self-motivation, autonomous construction of external supervision strategies, technology-enabled strategies, and behavioral automation strategies. Self-control for PA was found to be dynamic in response to metabolic, physical, and psychosocial contexts, characterized by feedback-driven goal adjustment, strategies switching, self-control failure coping, and self-control motivation fluctuation throughout pregnancy.</p> Conclusions <p>This study provides a self-control perspective to better understand and promote PA engagement in pregnant women with GDM. Healthcare providers may consider supporting these women to identify and reappraise rationalizations of temptations, develop a personalized repertoire of self-control strategies with technological support, and foster self-control motivation for PA habit formation.</p>

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Bridging the intention-behavior gap in physical activity among pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus: a qualitative study of self-control strategy use and dynamics

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月20日

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  • Qianru Liu,
  • Fang Xie,
  • Zheshuai Yang,
  • Pingping Guo,
  • Rujia Zhao,
  • Ying Jin,
  • Xiaojuan Wang,
  • Wei Zhang,
  • Shu Li,
  • Hengchang Liu,
  • Suwen Feng

摘要

Background

Although pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) often intend to engage in physical activity (PA), they may struggle to translate these intentions into action. Self-control could support PA goal pursuit among this population, as it enables individuals to prioritize health goals over immediate rewarding temptations, such as the urge to rest or sedentary leisure. However, the role of self-control has received limited attention in the existing studies. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how pregnant women with GDM use self-control to bridge the gap between PA intention and behavior in daily life.

Methods

A descriptive qualitative study was conducted. 24 pregnant women with GDM were recruited using purposive sampling at a tertiary hospital in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China, from April to May 2025. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Results

Three themes were identified: conflict between the pursuit of PA goals and temptations, context-adaptive self-control strategies for PA, and dynamics of self-control for PA during pregnancy. Despite strong PA intentions driven by concerns for maternal and fetal health, pregnant women with GDM reported conflicts between their goals and temptations, with rationalization of temptations emerging as a key psychological process linked to reduced PA engagement. To manage this conflict, pregnant women with GDM employed four types of self-control strategies: internal drive strategies based on health cognition and self-motivation, autonomous construction of external supervision strategies, technology-enabled strategies, and behavioral automation strategies. Self-control for PA was found to be dynamic in response to metabolic, physical, and psychosocial contexts, characterized by feedback-driven goal adjustment, strategies switching, self-control failure coping, and self-control motivation fluctuation throughout pregnancy.

Conclusions

This study provides a self-control perspective to better understand and promote PA engagement in pregnant women with GDM. Healthcare providers may consider supporting these women to identify and reappraise rationalizations of temptations, develop a personalized repertoire of self-control strategies with technological support, and foster self-control motivation for PA habit formation.