Derwin King Chung Chan

Chronic inhibition, self-control and eating behavior: Test of a 'resource depletion' model.

The current research tested the hypothesis that individuals engaged in long-term efforts to limit food intake (e.g., individuals with high eating restraint) would have reduced capacity to regulate eating when self-control resources are limited. In the current research, body mass index (BMI) was used as a proxy for eating restraint based on the assumption that individuals with high BMI would have elevated levels of chronic eating restraint. A preliminary study (Study 1) aimed to provide evidence for the assumed relationship between eating restraint and BMI. Participants (N = 72) categorized into high or normal-range BMI groups completed the eating restraint scale. Consistent with the hypothesis, results revealed significantly higher scores on the weight fluctuation and concern for dieting subscales of the restraint scale among participants in the high BMI group compared to the normal-range BMI group. The main study (Study 2) aimed to test the hypothesized interactive effect of BMI and diminished self-control resources on eating behavior. Participants (N = 83) classified as having high or normal-range BMI were randomly allocated to receive a challenging counting task that depleted self-control resources (ego-depletion condition) or a non-depleting control task (no depletion condition). Participants then engaged in a second task in which required tasting and rating tempting cookies and candies. Amount of food consumed during the taste-and-rate task constituted the behavioral dependent measure. Regression analyses revealed a significant interaction effect of these variables on amount of food eaten in the taste-and-rate task. Individuals with high BMI had reduced capacity to regulate eating under conditions of self-control resource depletion as predicted. The interactive effects of BMI and self-control resource depletion on eating behavior were independent of trait self-control. Results extend knowledge of the role of self-control in regulating eating behavior and provide support for a limited-resource model of self-control.

Using meta-analytic path analysis to test theoretical predictions in health behavior: An illustration based on meta-analyses of the theory of planned behavior

OBJECTIVE Synthesizing research on social cognitive theories applied to health behavior is an important step in the development of an evidence base of psychological factors as targets for effective behavioral interventions. However, few meta-analyses of research on social cognitive theories in health contexts have conducted simultaneous tests of theoretically-stipulated pattern effects using path analysis. We argue that conducting path analyses of meta-analytic effects among constructs from social cognitive theories is important to test nomological validity, account for mediation effects, and evaluate unique effects of theory constructs independent of past behavior. We illustrate our points by conducting new analyses of two meta-analyses of a popular theory applied to health behaviors, the theory of planned behavior. METHOD We conducted meta-analytic path analyses of the theory in two behavioral contexts (alcohol and dietary behaviors) using data from the primary studies included in the original meta-analyses augmented to include intercorrelations among constructs and relations with past behavior missing from the original analysis. RESULTS Findings supported the nomological validity of the theory and its hypotheses for both behaviors, confirmed important model processes through mediation analysis, demonstrated the attenuating effect of past behavior on theory relations, and provided estimates of the unique effects of theory constructs independent of past behavior. CONCLUSIONS Our analysis illustrates the importance of conducting a simultaneous test of theory-stipulated effects in meta-analyses of social cognitive theories applied to health behavior. We recommend researchers adopt this analytic procedure when synthesizing evidence across primary tests of social cognitive theories in health.

Cue-Induced Smoking Urges Deplete Cigarette Smokers' Self-Control Resources

BackgroundExposure to smoking-related cues leads to increased urge to smoke in regular cigarette smokers and resisting these urges requires considerable self-control.PurposeAdopting a resource depletion model, two studies tested the hypothesis that resisting smoking urges depletes self-control resources.MethodsAdopting a within-participants randomized cross-over design, participants (study 1, N = 19; study 2, N = 32) were exposed to smoking-related (study 1: smoking images; study 2: cigarette cue-exposure task) and neutral (study 1: neutral images; study 2: drinking-straw task) cues with presentation order randomized. After each cue set, participants completed self-control tasks (study 1: handgrip task; study 2: handgrip and Stroop tasks), performance on which constituted dependent measures of self-control.ResultsSelf-control task performance was significantly impaired when exposed to smoking-related cues compared to neutral cues. No significant presentation-order effects, or interaction effects between stimulus and presentation order, were found.ConclusionsFindings corroborate our hypothesis that resisting smoking urges depletes cigarette smokers’ self-control resources and suggests that self-control capacity is governed by a limited resource.

Paper vs. Pixel: Can We Use a Pen-and-Paper Method to Measure Athletes' Implicit Doping Attitude?

Author(s): Chan, Derwin KC; Lee, Alfred SY; Tang, Tracy CW; Gucciardi, Daniel F; Yung, Patrick SH; Hagger, Martin S

Response-Order Effects in Survey Methods: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Study in the Context of Sport Injury Prevention

Consistency tendency is characterized by the propensity for participants responding to subsequent items in a survey consistent with their responses to previous items. This method effect might contaminate the results of sport psychology surveys using cross-sectional design. We present a randomized controlled crossover study examining the effect of consistency tendency on the motivational pathway (i.e., autonomy support → autonomous motivation → intention) of self-determination theory in the context of sport injury prevention. Athletes from Sweden (N = 341) responded to the survey printed in either low interitem distance (IID; consistency tendency likely) or high IID (consistency tendency suppressed) on two separate occasions, with a one-week interim period. Participants were randomly allocated into two groups, and they received the survey of different IID at each occasion. Bayesian structural equation modeling showed that low IID condition had stronger parameter estimates than high IID condition, but the differences were not statistically significant.

What if it really was an accident? The psychology of unintentional doping

Doping refers to the use of prohibited performance-enhancing substances or methods in sport. It is considered a serious offence in sport that has many negative consequences, including titles being stripped, bans from participating, damage to reputation and ill health. As doping is assumed to be a pre-meditated action, engaging in this behaviour has been predominantly attributed to athletes’ decision-making processes and moral values or obligations.1 An increasing volume of literature has focused on the psychological factors associated with doping or doping intention, such as motivation, sportsmanship, moral disengagement and social-cognitive factors.1 These studies make a central assumption that doping is a consciously controlled and goal-directed behaviour. However athletes may dope unintentionally because they are not aware that food, drinks, supplements, or medications may contain doping substances.2 ,3 Therefore, one of the key antidoping strategies of WADA, apart from doping control, is to enhance athletes’ antidoping awareness and their capacity to avoid unintentional doping. Unintentional doping could lead to adverse analytical findings (AAFs) in doping controls (eg, …

A consideration of what is meant by automaticity and better ways to measure it.

Existing models of exercise behavior are insufficient in predicting outcomes, this point is shown by the relatively high levels of unexplained variance in exercise behavior in meta-analyses of social cognitive theories and models (Chatzisarantis et al., 2003; Hagger and Chatzisarantis, 2009). Researchers are beginning to recognize the importance of implicit, automatic processes in the prediction of health behaviors (Dimmock and Banting, 2009; Keatley et al., 2012, 2013b). The research by de Bruijn et al. (2014) is useful for highlighting the importance of automaticity in exercise behavior. We commend the authors on investigating an important approach to automaticity and exercise behavior. There were, however, some points with which we disagree. We think that the authors do not provide a clear account of what they mean by automaticity–an issue that is essential for the operationalization of the construct. Bargh (1994), for instance, suggested automaticity has four characteristics: awareness, intention, efficiency, and control; it is not clear whether de Bruijn and colleagues automaticity adheres to this. In particular, we contend that the explicit measure of automaticity used in their research is not an optimal way to assess implicit, impulsive processes. Furthermore, we contend that implicit measures, such as the implicit association test (IAT; Greenwald et al., 1998) would be better positioned as measures of non-conscious processes. The present commentary focuses on pre-behavior automatic associations, which we contend are better assessed by existing implicit measures, rather than during-behavior automatic “processes.”

Affect, Affective Variability, and Physical Health: Results from a Population-Based Investigation in China

BackgroundThere is good evidence linking positive affect with adaptive psychological and physical health outcomes and negative affect with maladaptive outcomes, in multiple contexts and samples. However, recent research has suggested that the fluctuation of emotions, known as affective variability, may also be an important correlate of individuals’ health.PurposeThe present study examined the relationship between affect, affective variability, and self-reported health status in a large representative sample of adults in China.MethodWe analyzed cross-sectional data retrieved from the World Health Organization’s study on global ageing and adults’ health. A total of 15,050 Chinese adults (aged between 18 and 99) from China reported their affective experiences during the previous day, perceived health, and their history of multiple chronic illnesses from their medical records (stroke, angina, diabetes, chronic lung disease, depression, and hypertension). Hierarchical multiple regression and logistic regression analyses were employed to analyze the data.ResultsIndependent of individuals’ mean levels of affect, affective variability was negatively related to subjective health conditions and positively related to diagnosed illness status, after controlling for demographic variables. Results suggest that affective variability increases the likelihood of reported impaired health and diagnosis of affect-related illnesses such as angina and depression.ConclusionThe present study highlighted the importance of studying the impact of affective variability, in addition to that of mean affect levels, on health.

Does emotion and its daily fluctuation correlate with depression? A cross-cultural analysis among six developing countries

Utilizing a World Health Organization (WHO) multi-national dataset, the present study examined the relationships between emotion, affective variability (i.e., the fluctuation of emotional status), and depression across six developing countries, including China (N = 15,050); Ghana (N = 5,573); India (N = 12,198); Mexico (N = 5,448); South Africa (N = 4,227); and Russia (N = 4,947). Using moderated logistic regression and hierarchical multiple regression, the effects of emotion, affective variability, culture, and their interactions on depression and depressive symptoms were examined when statistically controlling for a number of external factors (i.e., age, gender, marital status, education level, income, smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and diet). The results revealed that negative emotion was a statistically significant predictor of depressive symptoms, but the strength of association was smaller in countries with a lower incidence of depression (i.e., China and Ghana). The association between negative affective variability and the risk of depression was higher in India and lower in Ghana. Findings suggested that culture not only was associated with the incidence of depression, but it could also moderate the effects of emotion and affective variability on depression or the experience of depressive symptoms.

Is Trusting Others Related to Better Health? An Investigation of Older Adults Across Six Non-Western Countries

Generalized trust reflects whether individuals extend their trust to others in general and is important to health and well-being. This study examined the predictive effect of generalized trust on health, happiness, life satisfaction, health behaviors, and illnesses among older adults residing in six non-Western countries. We utilized a recent multinational dataset collected by the World Health Organization that included measures of generalized trust, health, happiness, life satisfaction, health behaviors (physical activity, diet), health-compromising behaviors (sedentary behavior, cigarette, and alcohol consumption), and illnesses (e.g., angina, arthritis, asthma, cataracts, depression, hypertension, and lung disease) among adults aged 50 and older. The sample comprised a total of 35,329 adults (M age = 63.54) from China, Ghana, India, Mexico, South Africa, and Russia. An index of the development of these countries was also entered into the analyses. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that generalized trust was a significant and positive predictor of self-rated health, happiness, life satisfaction, and quality of life, and a negative predictor of illness (i.e., angina, arthritis, asthma, cataracts, diabetes, depression, hypertension, and stroke) and sedentary behavior. The associations were stronger for countries with a higher Human Development Index (HDI) than those with a low HDI. While the findings from this first multinational investigation of non-Western developing countries are consistent with the results of previous studies in Western developed countries, they also underscore their cross-societal variability.