Charlotte D.W. Vinkers

Body esteem and eating disorder symptomatology: The mediating role of appearance-motivated exercise in a non-clinical adult female sample☆

OBJECTIVES Low body esteem poses a risk for the development of eating disorder symptomatology. Appearance-motivated exercise, as opposed to health-motivated exercise, has been associated with both low body esteem and eating disorder symptomatology. The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of appearance-motivated exercise in the link between body esteem and eating disorder symptomatology. METHOD Female fitness club members (N=81) reported their body esteem, eating disorder symptomatology and exercise motives. RESULTS Appearance-motivated exercise partially mediated the link between low body esteem and eating disorder symptomatology. In contrast, health-motivated exercise was unrelated to both body esteem and eating disorder symptomatology. CONCLUSION Results indicate that the motives underlying exercise in response to low body esteem have differential consequences for the potential development of eating disorders, signifying the clinical relevance of considering motives behind exercise.

The effectiveness of a proactive coping intervention targeting self-management in diabetes patients

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.

The relation of trait and state mindfulness with satisfaction and physical activity: A cross-sectional study in 305 Dutch participants.

Previous research has shown that satisfaction mediates the relationship of state mindfulness (i.e. during physical activity) with physical activity. This study aimed to replicate this finding and to explore the role of trait mindfulness with a cross-sectional design. In all, 305 participants completed measures on trait and state mindfulness, satisfaction with physical activity, and physical activity. Mediation analyses were used. Satisfaction mediated the effect of state mindfulness on physical activity. Trait mindfulness related to physical activity via an indirect path, namely through two consecutive mediators, first state mindfulness and then satisfaction. Our results suggest that to enhance satisfaction, both state and trait mindfulness should be considered.

Developing a Virtual Coach for Chronic Patients: A User Study on the Impact of Similarity, Familiarity and Realism

Healthcare costs are increasing dramatically due to disproportional consumption of healthcare resources by chronic patients. Automated forms of health coaching can contribute to improved patient self-management while reducing costs due to increased scalability and availability of the use of human health coaches. Embodied Conversational Agents ECAs seem to be good candidates to function as automated coaches, as they introduce a social component to human-computer interactions which makes them particularly suitable to influence a users attitude or behavior. To date, there is limited knowledge on the impact of appearance-related characteristics of an ECA as a virtual coach among a chronically ill elderly population. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the impact of three appearance cues on user acceptance: i similarity; ii familiarity; and iii realism. Findings demonstrate that patients a preferred the realistic-looking ECA over the more stylized one; b showed no preference for the familiar over the unfamiliar ECAs but did evaluate the unfamiliar ECAs as more positive than the familiar one; and c evaluated an ECA as virtual coach for self-management support as useful.

Better sorry than safe: Making a Plan B reduces effectiveness of implementation intentions in healthy eating goals

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.

How mindset influences self-efficacy beliefs and unhealthy snacking

An effective strategy for improving diet is making plans for how to cope with future tempting situations. It is helpful to mentally simulate future tempting situations, i.e. “high-risk situations”, to construct effective coping plans and prevent lapses (Marlatt & Gordon, 1985)[[Au: The reference “Marlatt and Gordon (1985)” is cited in the text but not listed. Please check.]]. Many people, however, overestimate their ability to resist temptation during mental simulation, resulting in ineffective coping plans. The present study aimed to examine whether consideration of different aspects of future situations during coping planning influence self-beliefs and subsequent enactment of plans. Participants either focused on factors preceding succumbing to temptation (process mindset, e.g. boredom) vs. factors resulting from succumbing (outcome mindset, e.g. guilt), after which they reported self-efficacy beliefs, and kept a snack diary for one week to measure subsequent goal-congruent behavior. Results show that those considering the outcome (vs. process) had higher self-efficacy beliefs and consumed fewer unhealthy snacks. Thinking about negative consequences of goal-inconsistent behavior may be a powerful tool to elicit persistence and renewed efforts to goal attainment. It is concluded that high self-efficacy beliefs – whether realistic or not – may be self-fulfilling in the context of healthy eating. This conclusion counteracts the idea that inflated self-efficacy beliefs have detrimental consequences for enacting goal-directed behavior (Nordgren et al., 2009)[[Au: The reference “Nordgren et al. (2009)” is cited in the text but not listed. Please check.]].