Group refunds , deposit not paid as lump sum , participants setting their own deposit size and additional behaviour change techniques were associated with greater weight loss during treatment .
Post-treatment , there was no significant effect of MCCs on weight loss .
There was a significant small-to-medium effect of MCCs on participant retention during treatment .
Research er-set deposits paid as one lump sum , refunds delivered on an all-or-nothing basis and refunds contingent on attendance at classes were associated with greater retention during treatment .
Post-treatment , there was no significant effect of MCCs on participant retention .
The results support the use of MCCs to promote weight loss and participant retention up to the point that the incentive is removed and identifies the conditions under which MCCs work best
Financial incentives to improve health have received increasing attention , but are subject to ethical concerns .
Monetary Contingency Contracts ( MCCs ) , which require individuals to deposit money that is refunded contingent on reaching a goal , are a potential alternative strategy .
This review evaluates systematic ally the evidence for weight loss – related MCCs .
Behavior therapy versus "will power" in the management of obesity.
In a study of the management of obesity 43 patients were r and omly assigned to behavior therapy , will power , and no-treatment control groups .  The behavioral treatment involved contingency contracting , stimulus control , self-monitoring , energy expenditure , and group reinforcement procedures over an 18-week period . The will power patients were told to do the same thing as the behavior therapy patients ; however , instead of having formal contingencies and meeting regularly , they were told to apply " will power " on their own , as this was the most important aspect of losing weight . The third group was a st and ard  no-treatment control group .  Analyses of covariance indicated that ( a ) the behavior therapy group lost significantly more weight than the will power ( p less than .05 ) and no-treatment control ( p less than .01 ) groups , and ( b ) the will power and no-treatment control groups did not differ significantly from each other . An 18-week maintenance follow-up of the behavior therapy group indicated that there was no significant weight gain from the end of treatment to follow-up . Also , an analysis of time spent per patient suggested that the behavioral treatment employed in this study was more efficient than previous treatments
Group refunds , deposit not paid as lump sum , participants setting their own deposit size and additional behaviour change techniques were associated with greater weight loss during treatment .
Post-treatment , there was no significant effect of MCCs on weight loss .
There was a significant small-to-medium effect of MCCs on participant retention during treatment .
Research er-set deposits paid as one lump sum , refunds delivered on an all-or-nothing basis and refunds contingent on attendance at classes were associated with greater retention during treatment .
Post-treatment , there was no significant effect of MCCs on participant retention .
The results support the use of MCCs to promote weight loss and participant retention up to the point that the incentive is removed and identifies the conditions under which MCCs work best
Financial incentives to improve health have received increasing attention , but are subject to ethical concerns .
Monetary Contingency Contracts ( MCCs ) , which require individuals to deposit money that is refunded contingent on reaching a goal , are a potential alternative strategy .
This review evaluates systematic ally the evidence for weight loss – related MCCs .