According to the Penn State researchers, the osteoarthritis patients who are confident in their ability to do something in the morning go could be more physically active throughout the day. The study results published in the journal Health Psychology, suggest that self-efficacy can influence physical activity irrespective of pain, mood and support from the family.  

In the study of 22 days, 135 participants recorded their self-efficacy by answering specific questions, every morning. The questions included "How confident are you that you can be physically active today despite the pain?", And about their mood and how much pain they were feeling. Then participants wore an accelerometer throughout the day, which measured the intensity of their physical activity and how many steps they took.

In the end, it was found that self-efficacy of the participants had a significant positive effect on their steps and moderate-intensity activity throughout that day, even when controlled for factors as pain, mood and support from the family. It was also observed that even if one participants' self-efficacy was lower than another participant, the increase in individual self-efficacy still resulted in more physical activity in every participant.