The aim of the present research is to examine the relation between depletion sensitivity – a novel construct referring to the speed or ease by which one's self-control resources are drained – and ...snack purchase behavior. In addition, interactions between depletion sensitivity and the goal to lose weight on snack purchase behavior were explored. Participants included in the study were instructed to report every snack they bought over the course of one week. The dependent variables were the number of healthy and unhealthy snacks purchased. The results of the present study demonstrate that depletion sensitivity predicts the amount of unhealthy (but not healthy) snacks bought. The more sensitive people are to depletion, the more unhealthy snacks they buy. Moreover, there was some tentative evidence that this relation is more pronounced for people with a weak as opposed to a strong goal to lose weight, suggesting that a strong goal to lose weight may function as a motivational buffer against self-control failures. All in all, these findings provide evidence for the external validity of depletion sensitivity and the relevance of this construct in the domain of eating behavior.
•The relation between depletion sensitivity and snack purchases was examined.•Depletion sensitivity predicts the amount of unhealthy (not healthy) snacks bought.•The more sensitive people are to depletion, the more unhealthy snacks they buy.•Weight loss goals may function as motivational buffer against self-control failure.
Diabetes patients often fail to adhere to self-management activities, such as losing weight by exercising and dieting. The present study tested the efficacy of a minimalist intervention consisting of ...only the self-regulation strategy 'mental contrasting' (Oettingen, G. (2000). Expectancy effects on behavior depend on self-regulatory thought. Social Cognition, 18, 101-129) in promoting these self-management activities among a clinical sample of type 2 diabetes patients (N = 64). Half of the participants were assigned to a positive indulging condition (fantasising about positive outcomes of losing weight) and the other half of the participants were assigned to a mental contrasting condition (fantasising about positive outcomes of losing weight and then contrasting these fantasies with obstacles in the present reality). Results showed that, one month later, participants in the mental contrasting condition had improved their diabetes self-management, and in particular their dieting behaviour, by a larger extent than participants who merely indulged in the positive future. It was concluded that although more elaborate interventions may yield stronger results, adding a mental contrasting exercise to their usual care may be a highly feasible, low-cost alternative to promote diabetes self-management.
It is often assumed that there are substantial sex differences in eating behaviour (e.g. women are more likely to be dieters or emotional eaters than men). The present study investigates this ...assumption in a large representative community sample while incorporating a comprehensive set of psychological eating-related variables.
A community sample was employed to: (i) determine sex differences in (un)healthy snack consumption and psychological eating-related variables (e.g. emotional eating, intention to eat healthily); (ii) examine whether sex predicts energy intake from (un)healthy snacks over and above psychological variables; and (iii) investigate the relationship between psychological variables and snack intake for men and women separately. Snack consumption was assessed with a 7d snack diary; the psychological eating-related variables with questionnaires.
Participants were members of an Internet survey panel that is based on a true probability sample of households in the Netherlands.
Men and women (n 1292; 45 % male), with a mean age of 51·23 (sd 16·78) years and a mean BMI of 25·62 (sd 4·75) kg/m2.
Results revealed that women consumed more healthy and less unhealthy snacks than men and they scored higher than men on emotional and restrained eating. Women also more often reported appearance and health-related concerns about their eating behaviour, but men and women did not differ with regard to external eating or their intentions to eat more healthily. The relationships between psychological eating-related variables and snack intake were similar for men and women, indicating that snack intake is predicted by the same variables for men and women.
It is concluded that some small sex differences in psychological eating-related variables exist, but based on the present data there is no need for interventions aimed at promoting healthy eating to target different predictors according to sex.
Objective: The study's aim was to investigate psychological, behavioral and medical long-term outcomes of an existing self-management intervention targeting the development of proactive coping skills ...(e.g. goal setting and identifying barriers) in type 2 diabetes patients. The study aimed to replicate prior research showing the intervention's effectiveness, and to extend it by (a) adding booster sessions and (b) prolonging the period of follow-up measurement to capture long-term effects.
Design/outcome measures: A total of 141 type 2 diabetes patients were included in the intervention. The intervention employed a 5-step approach to target proactive coping skills. Psychological (e.g. proactive coping and self-efficacy) and behavioural variables (e.g. self-care, diet and physical activity) were assessed at baseline (T1), after the initial phase of the intervention (T2), after the booster phase (T3) and at follow-up (T4), comprising a total period of 15 months. Medical variables were assessed at T1 and T4.
Results: Employing piecewise Latent Growth Curve Modelling, results showed that participants improved on all psychological and behavioural variables during the initial phase and maintained these improvements over 12 months. The booster phase yielded no further improvements. Mixed findings were obtained on medical outcomes.
Conclusion: The original intervention is effective, but the added value of the booster sessions is uncertain.
Brief self-management interventions to engender successful weight maintenance are seldom tested in obese and overweight populations without diabetes. To test the efficacy of the intervention, aimed ...at improving proactive coping, in obese and overweight adults at risk for diabetes. Participants (
N
= 255) were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (
N
= 185) and a control group (
N
= 70). Experimental groups received the same intervention in week 1–8 (initial phase) and booster sessions with different content (“standard” vs. “relapse prevention”) during week 9–24 (continuance phase). Primary outcomes were proactive coping, diet and Body Mass Index (BMI) at four time points (1 year between first and last measurement). Experimental groups improved in proactive coping during the initial phase and BMI during the continuance phase, whereas the control group did not. No differences emerged in diet. Brief self-management interventions can play a preventive role in chronic illnesses associated with obesity.
Objective: To discuss healthy diet from a psychological perspective by considering definitions of healthy diet in terms of consumer understanding; the health effects of specific dietary elements in ...terms of overweight and (chronic) illness; the prevalence of healthy diet; the psychological and environmental determinants of healthy diet; and the psychological interventions that have been designed to promote healthy diet.
Design: A systematic review of the psychological literature on healthy diet.
Results: Our findings suggest that consumers have a relatively poor understanding of a healthy diet. The literature also demonstrates that there is poor evidence on the health protective effects of single foods or nutrients. We further show that low SES is the single consistent risk factor for not adhering to a healthy diet. Our review of the literature on determinants demonstrates that intentions, habits, self-regulatory skills, and the social and physical environment are the most important determinants of a healthy diet, which are in turn amenable to change by intervention strategies with varying levels of effectiveness. Educational interventions generally show a limited effect on practising a healthy diet whereas interventions targeting habitual behaviour and/or the physical environment seem more promising.
Conclusions: In view of the large number of people who are concerned about their diets and make attempts to change their dietary patterns, we conclude that it is crucial to gain a better understanding of both the automatic and environmental influences that are responsible for people not acting upon their good intentions for diet change.
Objective: Implementation intentions (if-then plans) are helpful to health behaviour change. As these plans specify only one goal-directed behaviour for one specific situation, however, their ...effectiveness may be limited when a planned behaviour is impossible to execute in situ. The present research examines whether and how planning more than one goal-directed response for the same situation ('making a Plan B') affects successful self-regulation of eating behaviour.
Design and main outcome measures: In Study 1, participants formulated either one or two plans, after which a lexical decision task was administered to assess association strength between the if-part and the then-part(s). In Study 2, the effect of making one, two or no plan(s) was assessed on actual eating behaviour, after which a Stroop task measured cognitive load as an additional explanatory mechanism.
Results: Study 1 revealed that making a Plan B disrupts the creation of strong if-then associations during plan formation. Study 2 showed that making a Plan B yields increased unhealthy food intake compared to making one or no plan, and induces greater cognitive load during plan enactment.
Conclusion: Making a Plan B interferes with essential cognitive processes during different stages of planning, leading to an increased likelihood of self-regulatory failure.
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