Psychologists’ physical activity promotion practices, barriers and facilitators: a scoping review

Strong evidence supports the integration of physical activity (PA) promotion in psychotherapy. As mental healthcare practitioners with expertise in behaviour change, psychologists are well-placed to promote PA as an adjunctive psychological intervention. This scoping review aimed to systematically synthesise evidence on psychologists' PA promotion practices, including their knowledge, confidence and past training on promoting PA. This scoping review mapped psychologists' barriers and facilitators to the 14 domains of the Theoretical Domains Framework. Systematic searches were conducted, with 11 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Among the studies measuring the frequency of psychologists' PA promotion (n = 9), most (67%) reported that >50% of psychologists promote PA with clients. Studies reporting on psychologists' PA promotion training experiences (n=4) found that almost two-thirds of psychologists have not received any formal training in PA promotion. The domains most identified as barriers to PA promotion were 'social influences' and 'skills', whilst the domains most identified as facilitators to PA promotion were 'beliefs about consequences' and 'beliefs about capabilities'. Given that PA promotion in psychotherapy is an effective intervention, but psychologists lack formal training in this area, tailored training may benefit psychologists' capabilities and clinical practice to promote PA safely and effectively.