Social support, adherence to Mediterranean diet and physical activity in adults: results from a community-based cross-sectional study.

There is a growing recognition that social support can potentially exert consistent or opposing effects in influencing health behaviours. The present paper presents a cross-sectional study, including 2,064 adults from Italy, Spain and Greece, who were participants in a multi-centre randomised controlled trial (C4H study), aiming to examine whether social support is correlated with adherence to a healthy Mediterranean diet and physical activity. Social support data were available for 1,572 participants. The majority of the sample reported emotional support availability (84·5 %), financial support availability (72·6 %) and having one or more close friends (78·2 %). Mediterranean diet adherence was significantly associated with emotional support (P = 0·009) and social network support (P = 0·021). No statistically significant associations were found between participant physical activity and the social support aspects studied. In conclusion, emotional and social network support may be associated with increased adherence to the Mediterranean diet. However, further research is needed to evaluate the role of social support in adherence to healthy Mediterranean diet.

What makes a good action plan? Characteristics and enactment of fruit and vegetable plans.

BACKGROUND: One promising intervention strategy to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption is action planning. However, conditions of successful plan enactment, i.e., the translation of plans into action, have rarely been studied. Therefore, the relationship between plan characteristics and plan enactment is being examined. METHODS: Secondary analyses of an existing data set were conducted, based on a larger behavioral intervention study with a baseline assessment as well as a 2-weeks and a 4-weeks follow-up. After baseline assessment, participants completed action plan calendars for the following seven days and subsequently reported on each plan's enactment. Two independent raters coded 1732 morning, noon/afternoon, and evening plans by n = 92 individuals regarding the level of specificity (unspecific vs. specific) and type of planned behavior (fruit vs. vegetable intake). To predict plan enactment, multilevel logistic regression analyses were conducted. FINDINGS: Overall specificity of plans was unrelated to plan enactment, but interacted with time of day in predicting plan enactment. Only in the morning, specific plans were more likely being enacted than unspecific plans. Overall, plan enactment decreased during the day and throughout the seven days of the plan calendar. Furthermore, fruit plans were more likely being enacted than vegetable plans. DISCUSSION: Specific morning plans were found most beneficial for the enactment of FV plans. Here, possible underlying mechanisms such as stable morning routines should be further investigated. Moreover, the nutritional choice appeared to make a difference for plan enactment: Increasing one's fruit consumption may be easier than integrating more vegetables into one's daily diet.

A meta-analysis of the health action process approach.

OBJECTIVE: The health action process approach (HAPA) is a social-cognitive model specifying motivational and volitional determinants of health behavior. A meta-analysis of studies applying the HAPA in health behavior contexts was conducted to estimate the size and variability of correlations among model constructs, test model predictions, and test effects of past behavior and moderators (behavior type, sample type, measurement lag, study quality) on model relations. METHOD: A literature search identified 95 studies meeting inclusion criteria with 108 independent samples. Averaged corrected correlations among HAPA constructs and multivariate tests of model predictions were computed using conventional meta-analysis and meta-analytic structural equation modeling, with separate models estimated in each moderator group. RESULTS: Action and maintenance self-efficacy and outcome expectancies had small-to-medium sized effects on health behavior, with effects of outcome expectancies and action self-efficacy mediated by intentions, and action and coping planning. Effects of risk perceptions and recovery self-efficacy were small by comparison. Past behavior attenuated the intention-behavior relationship. Few variations in model effects were observed across moderator groups. Effects of action self-efficacy on intentions and behavior were larger in studies on physical activity compared with studies on dietary behaviors, whereas effects of volitional self-efficacy on behavior were larger in studies on dietary behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the importance of self-efficacy in predicting health behavior in motivational and volitional action phases. The analysis is expected to catalyze future research including experimental studies targeting change in individual HAPA constructs, and longitudinal research to examine change and reciprocal effects among constructs in the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The Berlin Social Support Scales: Validation of the Received Support Scale in a Canadian sample of patients affected by melanoma.

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Received Support Scale of the Berlin Social Support Scales in a Canadian sample of English and French language melanoma patients (N = 137). Participants received a skin self-examination education and completed self-report questionnaires. Exploratory factor analyses, reliability analyses, and independent samples t-tests were conducted. Findings support the unidimensionality of the Received Support Scale of the Berlin Social Support Scales. The psychometric similarities of the French and English versions of the scale, its strong internal consistency, as well as its convergent and discriminant validity support the use of the Received Support Scale of the Berlin Social Support Scales in patients with melanoma.

Couples' daily self-regulation: The Health Action Process Approach at the dyadic level.

OBJECTIVE: Regulating health behavior change often occurs in a dyadic context of romantic relationships. Dyadic approaches to standard health behavior change models are, however, barely considered. We investigated volitional processes of the Health Action Process Approach model for two health behaviors within a dyadic context of romantic couples. Specifically, we tested whether day-to-day volitional self-regulation predicted one's own and one's partner's cigarettes smoked (Study 1) and physical activity (Study 2). METHODS: In two dyadic intensive longitudinal studies (Study 1: 83 dual-smoker couples intending to jointly quit smoking; Study 2: 61 overweight couples intending to become physically active), heterosexual partners independently reported on intention, self-efficacy, action planning, and action control in end-of-day diaries. In Study 1, daily number of cigarettes smoked was assessed via self-report. In Study 2, daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was assessed objectively via accelerometers. In both studies, dyadic cross-lagged intensive longitudinal analyses based on the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model were applied. RESULTS: Across both studies, individual's own volitional self-regulation positively predicted one's own health behavior (less cigarettes smoked and more MVPA). One's partner's action control and intention also positively predicted one's own health behavior. A marginal partner effect for self-efficacy was found in the context of smoking only. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioral self-regulation is not only relevant for individuals themselves, but some volitional processes may spill over to their partners. This highlights the need to specify couple-level processes involved in health behavior change, and to consider a social context of self-regulation.

Facilitating physical activity and reducing symptoms in patients with knee osteoarthritis: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial to test a theory-based PrevOP-psychological adherence program (PrevOP-PAP).

BACKGROUND: The present randomized controlled trial, which is crossed with the "PREVenting the impairment of primary Osteoarthritis by high impact long-term Physical exercise regimen" Main Medical Trial (PrevOP-MMT), aims to evaluate a psychological adherence program (PrevOP-PAP), and is designed to support persons with knee osteoarthritis (OAK) in the uptake and maintenance of regular physical activity to reduce OAK symptoms. The PrevOP-PAP is based on the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA), a social-cognitive theory predicting health behavior change in individuals, extended here by social network characteristics and social exchange processes. It is expected that participants with OAK receiving the PrevOP-PAP will maintain higher levels of regular physical activity throughout a 24-month period and consequently report lower levels of OAK symptoms than participants of an active control condition. METHODS: A total of N = 240 participants with medically verified moderate OAK will be randomly assigned to an intervention condition (PrevOP-PAP-I; 50%) or an active control condition (PrevOP-PAP-CTRL). The PrevOP-PAP-I includes a motivational intervention, repeated self-regulation interventions, and a network creation intervention delivered over 12 months. Modes of intervention delivery include a paper-pencil motivation leaflet with a quiz, a computer-assisted face-to-face intervention, four computer assisted phone-based interventions, and activity calendars. The PrevOP-PAP-CTRL includes the motivational intervention only. Primary outcome will be OAK symptoms. Secondary outcomes include objectively and subjectively measured physical activity and indicators of quality of life. Other outcomes are HAPA-derived self-regulatory indicators as well as proposed social network and social exchange mechanisms of health behavior change. Assessments take place at baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months following baseline. DISCUSSION: Based on the extended HAPA, this study seeks to reveal the self-regulatory and social mechanisms of the uptake and maintenance of physical activity and their relation to disease symptoms in persons with OAK. The design and evaluation of this program are intended to become a yardstick for future development and implementation of digitalized psychological adherence programs in this population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register; also available at http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/ ; registration number: DRKS00009677 ; date of registration: 26 January 2016.

Self-efficacy and quality of life among people with cardiovascular diseases: A meta-analysis.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: Self-efficacy forms key modifiable personal resources influencing illness management, rehabilitation participation, and their outcomes such as perceived health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among people with a cardiovascular disease (CVD). Yet, an overarching research synthesis of the self-efficacy-HRQOL association in the CVD context is missing. This systematic review and meta-analysis of research on the self-efficacy-HRQOL relationship among people with CVD investigates whether the strength of associations depends on conceptualizations of self-efficacy and HRQOL (general vs. specific), presence of cardiovascular surgery, the type of CVD diagnosis, and patients' age (up to 60 vs. older than 60). Research Method/Design: We searched the following databases: PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Academic Search Complete, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, and MEDLINE. This search resulted in 17 original studies (k = 18 samples) included in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: Findings suggested that stronger self-efficacy was associated with better HRQOL (r = .37; 95% CI [.29, .44]). Moderator analyses indicated stronger associations when HRQOL was measured in a general way (compared to CVD-specific) and when self-efficacy was measured in a general or exercise-specific way (as opposed to CVD symptom-specific). Self-efficacy-HRQOL associations were similar in strength across age groups, regardless of presence of cardiovascular surgery, and among patients diagnosed with different forms of CVD. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: General and exercise-specific self-efficacy are moderately related with HRQOL among people with CVD after surgery or during rehabilitation. Results need to be interpreted with caution due to heterogeneity of original research and the dominance of cross-sectional designs. (PsycINFO Database Record

Women with family cancer history are at risk for poorer physical quality of life and lower self-efficacy: a longitudinal study among men and women with non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the determinants of trajectories of physical symptoms related to lung cancer (a quality of life [QOL] aspect) and self-efficacy among patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It was hypothesized that gender and family cancer history in first-degree relatives would have synergistic effects on QOL-lung cancer specific symptoms and self-efficacy. Women with family cancer history were expected to be at risk of poorer adjustment. METHODS: Quantitative, longitudinal design was applied. Participants provided their responses at 3-4 days after surgery, 1-month follow-up, and 4-month follow-up. We recruited 102 in-patients (men: 51%) with NSCLC who underwent surgery aimed at removing a lung tumor. Self-report data were collected with QLQ-LC13 and a scale for self-efficacy for managing illness. RESULTS: Mixed-models analysis indicated that trajectories of physical quality of life (symptoms of lung cancer) as well as self-efficacy were unfavorable among women with family cancer history. CONCLUSIONS: Among NSCLC patients, gender and family cancer history may be considered basic screening criteria for identifying groups of patients at risk for poorer physical QOL (higher level of physical symptoms related to lung cancer) and lower incline of self-efficacy after cancer surgery.

The Role of Social Support and Self-efficacy for Planning Fruit and Vegetable Intake.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to examine the joint effect of self-efficacy, action planning, and received social support on fruit and vegetable intake. DESIGN: The study used a longitudinal design with 3 waves of data collection. SETTING: Major university campus in Beijing, China. PARTICIPANTS: Young adults (n = 286). VARIABLES MEASURED: Age, gender, body mass index, dietary self-efficacy, and baseline behavior were measured at time 1. Two weeks after time 1, received social support and action planning were assessed (time 2); 4 weeks after time 1, subsequent fruit and vegetable consumption was measured (time 3). ANALYSIS: In a path analysis, action planning at time 2 was specified as a mediator between self-efficacy at time 1 and fruit and vegetable intake at time 3, controlling for age, gender, body mass index, and baseline behavior. In addition, in a conditional process analysis, received social support at time 2 was specified as a moderator of the self-efficacy-planning relationship. RESULTS: Action planning mediated between self-efficacy and subsequent dietary behavior, and received social support moderated between self-efficacy and planning supporting a compensation effect. Action planning served as a proximal predictor of fruit and vegetable intake, and planning one's consumption was facilitated by dietary self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Through the identification of social cognitive factors influencing dietary planning, interventions can target self-efficacy and received social support to test the efficacy of these mechanisms in increasing individuals' ability to ensure they consume adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables.

Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) as a Theoretical Framework to Understand Behavior Change

A theoretical framework to explain, predict, and modify health behaviors is presented which consists of various psychological constructs and a mediator mechanism. Risk perception, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, intention, planning, and action control constitute the building blocks for a mediator model that is based on two processes: goal setting and goal pursuit. When it comes to the development of interventions to modify behaviors, one can target either the initial motivation phase or the subsequent volition phase. This is an open architecture framework allowing for various research designs and subsets of constructs. Hundreds of studies have been conducted based on this model. Three correlational and two intervention studies were chosen to illustrate the diversity of approaches targeting physical activity in Germany and Costa Rica, dental cleaning in India and Poland, and dust mask wearing in China. They differ in terms of the predictors that emerged as most relevant for behavior change.

Se presenta un marco de referencia para explicar, predecir, y modificar conductas de salud el cual consiste en varios constructos psicológicos y un mecanismo de mediación. La percepción de riesgo, las expectativas de resultado, la autoeficacia, la intención, y el control de acción constituyen los bloques de construcción para un modelo de mediación que está basado en dos procesos: el establecimiento de metas y la consecución de metas. Cuando se trata del desarrollo de intervenciones para modificar conductas, uno puede apuntar hacia la fase inicial de motivación, o bien, hacia la fase volitiva subsecuente. Este es un marco de referencia abierto, que permite varios diseños de investigación y un subconjunto de constructos. Se han realizado cientos de estudios basados en este modelo, de los cuales se escoge, como ilustración, tres estudios correlacionales y dos estudios de intervención, que abordan actividad física en Alemania y Costa Rica, higiene dental en India y Polonia, y uso de mascarillas contra el polvo en China. Estos difieren en términos de predictores que emergen como predictores más relevantes para el cambio de conductas.

A Computerized Lifestyle Application to Promote Multiple Health Behaviors at the Workplace: Testing Its Behavioral and Psychological Effects.

BACKGROUND: Preventive health behaviors, such as regular physical activity and healthy nutrition, are recommended to maintain employability and to facilitate the health of employees. Theory-based workplace health promotion needs to include psychological constructs and consider the motivational readiness (so-called stages of change) of employees. According to the stages, people can be grouped as nonintenders (not motivated to change and not performing the goal behavior), intenders (decided to adopt the goal behavior but not started yet), or actors (performing the goal behavior already). The tailoring to these stages can be done computer based and should make workplace health promotion more effective. OBJECTIVE: It was tested whether a parsimonious computer-based health promotion program implemented at the workplace was effective in terms of lifestyle changes and psychological outcomes as well as body weight. We hypothesized that the stage-matched intervention would outperform the one-size-fits-all active control condition (standard care intervention). METHODS: In a randomized controlled trial, a total of 1269 employees were recruited by a trained research assistant at their workplace during a routine medical examination. After excluding noneligible employees, 560 completed Time 1 (T1), and 384 also completed Time 2 (T2), achieving a retention rate of 68.6%. Two fully automated computer-based treatments were adopted: (1) an active control condition with information about benefits of exercise and healthy nutrition (n=52), or (2) a stage-matched multiple-behavior intervention that provided different psychological treatments to 9 subgroups, addressing stages of change (nonintenders, intenders, and actors per behavior; n=332). Baseline assessments (T1) on behavior, psychological constructs, and body weight were repeated after 4 weeks (T2). RESULTS: The stage-matched intervention outperformed the active control condition for lifestyle changes containing physical activity and nutrition (χ(2) 1=3.5; P=.04, for N=384) as well as psychological variables (physical activity intention, P=.04; nutrition intention, P=.03; nutrition planning, P=.02; and general social support to live healthily, P=.01). When predicting a healthy lifestyle at follow-up, baseline lifestyle (odds ratio, OR, 2.25, 95% CI 1.73-2.92; P<.01) and the intervention (OR 1.96, 95% CI 1.00-3.82; P=.05) were found to be significant predictors. Physical activity planning mediated the effect of the intervention on the adoption of an overall healthy lifestyle (consisting of activity and nutrition, R(2) adj=.08; P<.01), indicating that if the stage-matched intervention increased planning, the adoption of a healthy lifestyle was more likely. CONCLUSIONS: Matching an intervention to the motivational readiness of employees can make a health promotion program effective. Employees' motivation, planning, social support, and lifestyle can be supported by a stage-matched intervention that focuses on both physical activity and healthy nutrition. Occupational settings provide a potential to implement parsimonious computer-based health promotion programs and to facilitate multiple behavior change.

Beyond single behaviour theory: Adding cross-behaviour cognitions to the health action process approach.

OBJECTIVES: Commonly, health behaviour theories have been applied to single behaviours, giving insights into specific behaviours but providing little knowledge on how individuals pursue an overall healthy lifestyle. In the context of diet and physical activity, we investigated the extent to which cross-behaviour cognitions, namely transfer cognitions and compensatory health beliefs, contribute to single behaviour theory. DESIGN: A total of 767 participants from two European regions (i.e., Germany n = 351, southern Europe n = 416) completed online questionnaires on physical activity and healthy dietary behaviour, behaviour-specific cognitions (i.e., self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, risk perception, intention, action planning, action control), as well as cross-behaviour cognitions, namely transfer cognitions and compensatory health beliefs. METHODS: Nested path models were specified to investigate the importance of cross-behaviour cognitions over and above behaviour-specific predictors of physical activity and healthy nutrition. RESULTS: Across both health behaviours, transfer cognitions were positively associated with intention and self-regulatory strategies. Compensatory health beliefs were negatively associated with intention. Action planning and action control mediated the effect of intentions on behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: Cross-behaviour cognitions contribute to single behaviour theory and may explain how individuals regulate more than one health behaviour. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Cross-behaviour cognitions are related to a healthy lifestyle. Compensatory health beliefs hinder the adoption of a healthy lifestyle. Transfer cognitions encourage the engagement in a healthy lifestyle. What does this study add? Transfer cognitions were positively associated with intentions, action planning, and action control over and above behaviour-specific cognitions. Compensatory health beliefs were related to intentions only. Both facilitating and debilitating cross-behaviour cognitions need to be studied within a unified multiple behaviour research framework.

Cross-behavior associations and multiple health behavior change: A longitudinal study on physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake.

This study aimed to examine the interrelation of physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake. The influence of stage congruence between physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake on multiple behavior change was also investigated. Health behaviors, social-cognitions, and stages of change were assessed in 2693 adults at two points in time. Physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake were assessed 4 weeks after the baseline. Social-cognitions, stages as well as stage transitions across behavior domains were positively interrelated. Stage congruence was not related to changes in physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake. Physical activity and nutrition appear to facilitate rather than hinder each other. Having intentions to change both behaviors simultaneously does not seem to overburden individuals.

'Sticking to a healthy diet is easier for me when I exercise regularly': cognitive transfer between physical exercise and healthy nutrition.

OBJECTIVE: Long-term rehabilitation success depends on regular exercise and healthy nutrition. The present study introduces a new framework to explain this association on a psychosocial level. The exercise-nutrition relationship was investigated by exploring the sequential mediation of habit strength and transfer cognitions. DESIGN: Analyses were performed at two measurement points in time (at 12 and 18 months after rehabilitation), involving 470 medical rehabilitation patients who participated in an exercise intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients filled in paper-pencil questionnaires assessing exercise (t1) and habit strength, transfer cognitions and healthy nutrition at follow-up (t2). RESULTS: Habit strength and transfer cognitions mediated the relationship between exercise and nutrition. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that habit strength and transfer cognitions are important factors underlying the relationship between exercise and nutrition.

Proactive coping moderates the dietary intention-planning-behavior path.

BACKGROUND: The study examines psychosocial mechanisms in dietary change using the health action process approach (HAPA) as its theoretical backdrop. Previous studies have supported the model in the domain of dietary behaviors but it has not yet been studied in China. OBJECTIVE: Dietary planning is assumed to mediate between intentions and dietary behaviors. However, among individuals scoring low on proactive coping, this mediation might fail. Therefore, an extension of the model by including proactive coping is examined. METHODS: Psychometric scales were administered at two points in time, three months apart, to 240 young Chinese men and women. Intentions, outcome expectancies, risk perception, action self-efficacy, and proactive coping were assessed at Time 1, whereas planning, coping self-efficacy, and dietary behavior were measured at Time 2. RESULTS: Structural equation models replicated previous evidence on the validity of the HAPA. Intentions and planning mediated sequentially the effects of outcome expectancies and self-efficacy on dietary behaviors. Moreover, the inclusion of proactive coping yielded no main effects, but an interaction between intentions and proactive coping on dietary planning. The intention-planning-behavior chain was moderated by proactive coping which means that this connection operates only well when individuals are proactive. CONCLUSIONS: A combination of proactive coping and the motivation to eat healthy foods facilitates dietary planning which, in turn, benefits corresponding behaviors.

Enhancing planning strategies for sunscreen use at different stages of change.

To promote sun safety by implementing different plans for sunscreen use, different psychological interventions are compared. Self-regulatory strategies such as action planning and coping planning are seen as proximal predictors of actual behavior. The study compares a pure planning intervention with a broader resource communication and examines differential effects at different stages of change. A sun safety online study was designed with two intervention groups (resource communication versus planning) and one control group at two assessment points, 2 weeks apart. Participants (N = 292) were grouped post hoc according to their stage of change, resulting in 51 pre-intenders (no intention to use sunscreen), 102 intenders (high intention but no regular use of sunscreen) and 139 actors (sunscreen use on a regular basis). No overall treatment effects on planning, but an interaction between time, stage and intervention emerged. The resource communication was more effective for pre-intenders, whereas the planning intervention proved more effective for intenders. A planning treatment was more beneficial in motivated individuals, whereas a broader approach was better for unmotivated ones. Findings highlight the potential that stage-matched interventions might have in the context of sun safety promotion.

Online intervention engagement predicts smoking cessation.

OBJECTIVE: Instead of focusing on individual differences as predictors of quitting ("who they are"), this study focuses on actions ("what they do"). The purpose is to predict smoking abstinence in internet users who may become involved in social activities within the virtual community. METHODS: From March, 2009, to July, 2011, users of a web-based smoking cessation program in Germany made data available for a post-hoc evaluation study (n=13,174), including abstinence rates and online activities such as a) posting on a bulletin board after a smoke-free day, b) offering a donation, and c) posting messages throughout their course. RESULTS: Survival analyses for 70 days of self-reported non-smoking documented higher success rates for those who made use of one or more of the virtual community activities. Moreover, the effect of making an initial bulletin board entry on 10-week abstinence was mediated by offering a donation and posting messages throughout the course (R(2)=0.125). The indirect effect via donation was 0.10 (95% CI 0.06-0.14), and the indirect effect via message posting was 0.31 (95% CI 0.25-0.38). CONCLUSIONS: Virtual community activities predict smoking cessation. Shifting the focus from personality characteristics toward behavioral process variables such as intervention engagement might add more substance to smoking cessation studies.

Depressive symptoms interfere with post-rehabilitation exercise: outcome expectancies and experience as mediators.

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and physical exercise by unveiling how outcome expectancies regarding exercise and positive exercise experience could mediate between depressive symptoms and exercise. A longitudinal study included 178 cardiac and orthopedic rehabilitation patients in Germany. Patients responded to psychometric scales at two points in time with a six-week interval, assessing depressive symptoms (Time 1), outcome expectancies regarding exercise (Time 1), exercise experiences (Time 2), and exercise behavior (Times 1 and 2). Depressive symptoms were negatively related to physical exercise (r =- 0.18), to positive outcome expectancies (r =- 0.23), and to positive exercise experiences (r =- 0.26). In a multiple-step mediation model, expectancies and experiences mediated between depressive symptoms and exercise. In total, 15% of the exercise variance was accounted for. Outcome expectancies and a lack of positive experience seem to partly explain why depressed individuals are less likely to exercise.

Future time perspective and health behaviors: temporal framing of self-regulatory processes in physical exercise and dietary behaviors.

BACKGROUND: Limitations in perceived lifetime can undermine long-term goal striving. Planning is supposed to translate intentions into health behaviors and to operate as a compensatory strategy to overcome goal striving deficits associated with a limited time perspective. PURPOSE: Two longitudinal studies were conducted examining the compensatory role of planning: an online survey on fruit and vegetable consumption (N = 909; 16-78 years; follow-up at 4 months) and a questionnaire study on physical exercise in older adults (N = 289; 60-95 years, over a half-year period). METHODS: Intentions, planning, and behavior were measured in a behavior-specific, future time perspective in a generic manner. RESULTS: Planning mediated between intentions and both health behaviors. Time perspective operated as a moderator, indicating that in individuals with a more limited time perspective, a stronger effect of planning on health behaviors emerged. CONCLUSIONS: Planning as a self-regulatory strategy may compensate for a limited time perspective.

Multiple plans and memory performance: results of a randomized controlled trial targeting fruit and vegetable intake.

To test whether forming and memorizing more action plans has larger effects than generating fewer plans. In a randomized controlled trial with five intervention groups and one control group, 478 participants were asked to form one, two, three, four, or five action plans, or to complete questionnaires only (control group). One week later, behavior change was measured and participants of the intervention groups completed a free recall task. Outcome measures are daily intake of fruit and vegetables as well as recall of plans. Fruit and vegetable intake increased with higher numbers of plans, and was significantly larger in groups that formed four (d = 0.36) or five plans (d = 0.48) as compared to controls. The sum of recalled plans reflected the number of generated plans, but was unrelated to behavior change. Generating multiple plans benefits behavior change, but to be implemented they need not be recalled.