Author: Jacqueline F. HayesPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic dissertations
Languages : en
Pages : 101
Book Description
Thirty-five percent of college students have overweight or obesity and are in need of brief and simple weight loss interventions that complement their unstructured lifestyles. Implementation intentions, a simple strategy that connects a goal-aligned behavior to a cue, facilitate goal-attainment for a wide variety of health-behaviors and may be particularly useful for individuals who have lower inhibitory control skills, a cognitive deficit that makes adherence to weight loss intervention recommendations more difficult. Implementation intentions have not been tested as a stand-alone treatment for dietary change and weight loss. College students with overweight or obesity (N = 95) were randomized to one of three conditions: an implementation intention group (IMP), an enhanced implementation intention group (IMP+) that included text message reminders and fluency training (i.e., training for speed and accuracy), and a control goal intention group (GOL). All groups were asked to work toward the same dietary goals for weight loss over four weeks. Participants completed anthropometric, self-report and inhibitory control assessments to determine treatment effects. Participants also completed experience-sampling assessments during the first and last week of the study to assess how implementation intentions contribute more directly to behavior change. Most students (87%) completed the study, demonstrating acceptability of the interventions. No differences were found for weight and diet outcomes between conditions, although across the sample, students lost a significant amount of weight, improved diet quality, and reduced caloric intake (ps