Building on Existing Classifications of Behavior Change Techniques to Classify Planned Coping Strategies: Physical Activity Diary Study.

The study's objective was to categorize PA coping strategies. The compendium of self-enactable techniques addressed almost two-thirds (3393/5252, 64.6%) of these strategies, serving as valuable starting points for classification. In total, 9 additional strategies were integrated into the self-enactable techniques, which are largely absent in other existing classification systems. These new techniques can be seen as further refinements of "problem-solving" or "coping planning." Due to data constraints stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and the study's focus on a healthy Flemish student population, it is anticipated that more coping strategies would apply under normal conditions, in the general population, and among clinical groups. Future research should expand to diverse populations and establish connections between coping strategies and PA barriers, with ontologies recommended for this purpose. This study is a first step in classifying the content of coping strategies for PA. We believe this is an important and necessary step toward digital health interventions that incorporate personalized suggestions for PA coping plans.