Identified mediators for medium-/long-term weight control were higher levels of autonomous motivation , self-efficacy/barriers , self-regulation skills ( such as self-monitoring ) , flexible eating restraint , and positive body image .
For physical activity , significant putative mediators were high autonomous motivation , self-efficacy , and use of self-regulation skills .
For dietary intake , the evidence was much less clear , and no consistent mediators were identified .
Conclusions This is the first systematic review of mediational psychological mechanisms of successful outcomes in obesity-related lifestyle change interventions .
Despite limited evidence , higher autonomous motivation , self-efficacy , and self-regulation skills emerged as the best predictors of beneficial weight and physical activity outcomes ; for weight control , positive body image and flexible eating restraint may additionally improve outcomes .
These variables represent possible targets for future lifestyle interventions in overweight/obese population
Background Relapse is high in lifestyle obesity interventions involving behavior and weight change .
Identifying mediators of successful outcomes in these interventions is critical to improve effectiveness and to guide approaches to obesity treatment , including re source allocation .
This article review s the most consistent self-regulation mediators of medium- and long-term weight control , physical activity , and dietary intake in clinical and community behavior change interventions targeting overweight/obese adults .
Theoretical integration in health psychology: unifying ideas and complementary explanations.
Theoretical approaches to behaviour change are now pervasive in the health psychology literature ( Abraham & Michie , 2008 ; Michie , Johnston , Francis , Hardeman , & Eccles , 2008 ) . Many are developed in the social psychology literature and applied in health context s to provide a hypothesis-testing framework for empirical investigations into health behaviours and outcomes ( Michie , Rothman , & Sheeran , 2007 ) . Numerous theoretical perspectives have been applied in the health sphere : the health action process model ( Schwartzer , 1992 ) , the health belief model ( Becker , 1974 ) , protection motivation theory ( PMT ; Rogers , 1975 ) , self-determination theory ( Deci & Ryan , 1985 ) , self-regulation theory ( Leventhal , Leventhal , & Contrada , 1998 ) , social cognitive theory ( B and ura , 1977 ) , subjective expected utility theory ( Edwards , 1954 ) , the theories of reasoned action ( Ajzen & Fishbein , 1980 ) and planned behaviour ( Ajzen , 1985 ) , the theory of interpersonal behaviour ( Tri and is , 1977 ) , and the transtheoretical model ( Prochaska & DiClemente , 1982 ) to name but a few . While meta-analytic review s of cross-sectional , prospect i ve , experimental , and intervention studies have indicated that these theories have varying degrees of utility in explaining variance in health behaviour and outcomes ( Armitage & Conner , 2001 ; Hardeman et al. , 2002 ; Milne , Sheeran , & Orbell , 2000 ; Sibley & Abraham , 2008 ) , a substantial variance in health behaviour remains unexplained ( Ogden , 2003 ; Weinstein , 2007 ) . There is a further problem ; when the impact of past behaviour or previous experience is accounted for , the efficacy of the theories in explaining health behaviour tends to fall dramatically ( Hagger , Chatzisarantis , & Biddle , 2002 ; Sutton , 1994 ) . This makes the identification of the psychological constructs that account for behaviour uniquely and independent of past behaviour paramount . Furthermore , theories of health behaviour have become increasingly complex , with additional variables being incorporated as additional predictors , mediators , or moderators to test , with increasing detail , the limitations and boundaries of each theory ( Ajzen , 1998 ; Armitage & Conner
Identified mediators for medium-/long-term weight control were higher levels of autonomous motivation , self-efficacy/barriers , self-regulation skills ( such as self-monitoring ) , flexible eating restraint , and positive body image .
For physical activity , significant putative mediators were high autonomous motivation , self-efficacy , and use of self-regulation skills .
For dietary intake , the evidence was much less clear , and no consistent mediators were identified .
Conclusions This is the first systematic review of mediational psychological mechanisms of successful outcomes in obesity-related lifestyle change interventions .
Despite limited evidence , higher autonomous motivation , self-efficacy , and self-regulation skills emerged as the best predictors of beneficial weight and physical activity outcomes ; for weight control , positive body image and flexible eating restraint may additionally improve outcomes .
These variables represent possible targets for future lifestyle interventions in overweight/obese population
Background Relapse is high in lifestyle obesity interventions involving behavior and weight change .
Identifying mediators of successful outcomes in these interventions is critical to improve effectiveness and to guide approaches to obesity treatment , including re source allocation .
This article review s the most consistent self-regulation mediators of medium- and long-term weight control , physical activity , and dietary intake in clinical and community behavior change interventions targeting overweight/obese adults .