Do nutrition knowledge, food preferences, and habit strength moderate the association between Preference for Intuition and Deliberation in Eating Decision-making and dietary intake?

An intuitive style in eating decision-making, for example, basing decisions on one’s gut feeling, has been related to a less healthy diet, whereas deliberately deciding what to eat, such as making plans about eating behavior, has been related to a healthier diet. The present study investigated whether nutrition knowledge, food preferences, and habit strength for healthy and unhealthy eating moderate these relationships. In total, 1245 participants took part in a preregistered cross-sectional online survey. Results revealed that neither nutrition knowledge, nor liking of healthy or unhealthy foods, nor habit strength for healthy or unhealthy eating interacted with the preference for intuition or deliberation in eating decision-making in affecting dietary intake. Instead, including the potential moderating variables in analyses rendered the effect of a preference for intuition largely non-significant. In contrast, the positive effect of a preference for deliberation was largely stable even when including the potential moderating variables. Thus, the present study confirms the general health-promoting effect of a preference for deliberation in eating decision-making. In contrast, results speak in favor of a generally minor role of a preference for intuition for healthy or unhealthy eating.

Exploring the Role of Norms and Habit in Explaining Pro-Environmental Behavior Intentions in Situations of Use Robots and AI Agents as Providers in Tourism Sector

In a pandemic situation, with climate change around the world, studies analyzing changes in travel patterns are welcome. This study combines three theories to propose a model on pro-environmental behavior intentions, namely, the theory of planned behavior, value–belief–norm theory and habit theory. This study aims to examine the role of social norms, personal norms and habit strength to explain pro-environmental behavior intentions. The authors collected 316 usable questionnaires from tourists in the well-known touristic Belem location in Lisbon. Personal norms were revealed to have the strongest association with pro-environmental behavior intentions, followed by habit strength. The study also identified different broad challenges to encouraging sustainable behaviors and use these to develop novel theoretical propositions and directions for future research. Finally, the authors outlined how practitioners aiming to encourage sustainable consumer behaviors can use this framework to achieve better results.

Studying problems, not problematic usage: Do mobile checking habits increase procrastination and decrease well-being?

Most prior research on the effects of mobile and social media on well-being has worked from either the “technology addiction” or “screen time” approach. Yet these frameworks struggle with considerable conceptual and methodological limitations. The present study discusses and tests an established but understudied alternative, the technology habit approach. Instead of conflating mobile usage with problems (i.e., addictive/problematic usage) or ignoring users’ psychological engagement with mobiles (i.e., screen time), this approach investigates how person-level (habit strength) and day-level aspects of mobile habits (perceived interruptions and the urge to check) contribute to a key problem outcome, procrastination, as well as affective well-being and meaningfulness. In a five-day diary study with N = 532 student smartphone users providing N = 2,331 diary entries, mobile checking habit strength, perceived interruptions, and the urge to check together explained small to moderate amounts of procrastination. Procrastination, in turn, was linked to lower affective well-being and meaningfulness. Yet mobile habits showed only very small or no direct associations with affective well-being and meaningfulness. By separating habitual mobile connectivity from problem outcomes and well-being measures, this research demonstrates a promising alternative to the study of digital well-being.

Self-efficacy, habit strength, health locus of control and response to the personalised nutrition Food4Me intervention study

PurposeRandomised controlled trials identify causal links between variables but not why an outcome has occurred. This analysis sought to determine how psychological factors assessed at baseline influenced response to personalised nutrition.Design/methodology/approachWeb-based, randomised, controlled trial (RCT) was conducted across seven European countries. Volunteers, both male and female, aged over 18 years were randomised to either a non-personalised (control) or a personalised (treatment) dietary advice condition. Linear mixed model analysis with fixed effects was used to compare associations between internal and external health locus of control (HLoC), nutrition self-efficacy (NS-E) and self-report habit index (S-RHI) at baseline (N = 1444), with healthy eating index (HEI) and Mediterranean diet index (MDI) scores between conditions post-intervention (N = 763).FindingsAn increase in MDI scores was observed between baseline and six months in the treatment group which was associated with higher NS-E (p < 0.001), S-RHI (p < 0.001) and external HLoC (p < 0.001). Increase in HEI between baseline and six months in the treatment group was associated with higher NS-E (p < 0.001) and external HLoC (p = 0.009). Interaction between time and condition indicated increased HEI scores (p < 0.001), which were associated with higher S-RHI scores in the treatment than control group (p = 0.032). Internal HLoC had no effect on MDI or HEI.Originality/valuePsychological factors associated with behaviour change need consideration when tailoring dietary advice. Those with weaker habit strength will require communication focussed upon establishing dietary habits and support in integrating advised changes into daily routine. Information on habit strength can also be used to inform how progress towards dietary goals is monitored and fed back to the individual. Those with stronger habit strength are more likely to benefit from personalised nutrition.

Feasibility of a virtual reality-based approach to improve behavioral weight management outcomes

Background Behavioral weight loss interventions promote clinically significant weight loss over 12 months, but weight regain remains problematic and a substantial proportion of participants do not achieve long-term weight loss maintenance. Novel methods are needed that instill habit strength for sustaining weight control behaviors long term. Virtual reality (VR) has the potential to provide opportunities within behavioral treatment for patients to practice desired weight control behaviors in the frequency and magnitude necessary to build durable habits. A pilot randomized trial was done to test the feasibility integrating virtual reality (VR) into standard behavioral weight loss treatment. Methods Participants were 15 adults (43 years; 46.7% Hispanic), with overweight or obesity who were randomly assigned to a 4-week Standard Behavioral Weight Loss plus Non-Weight-Related VR app (i.e., Control Group) or Standard Behavioral Weight Loss plus Weight-Related VR app (i.e., Intervention Group). The Intervention’s VR tool was designed to enable practice of behavioral skills taught in weekly group meetings, including managing social and home environmental cues for eating and activity. Results Participants were recruited over 3 months, and retention at the final assessment visit was high (86.6%). The VR footage and resulting app were rated as highly realistic (6.7 on a 10-point scale), and the VR program overall was rated as highly satisfactory (3.6 on a 4-point scale). Adverse effects of eye strain and motion sickness were minimal (~ 2 on a 7-point scale). As expected, the intervention and control groups both lost weight and unadjusted means (SD) averaged 3.4% (2.7) and 2.3% (3.6), respectively, over the 4 weeks. Overall, participants reported preferring a VR approach above traditional weight loss programs (rating of 5 on a 7-point scale). Conclusions Future research is needed to develop and test the feasibility of using VR for other weight control skills with a larger sample size and longer evaluation period to determine if VR can improve standard behavioral weight loss outcomes by intensifying practice opportunities and building habit strength for weight loss maintenance. Trial registration NCT04534088; date of registration: 09/01/2020, retrospectively registered.

Differences in Eating Behavior Among Followers of Popular Diets Across Categories of Perceived Adherence

Objectives To understand how eating behaviors, susceptibility to the food environment, and perceived dietary habit strength differ across self-reported categories of adherence. Methods We used data in a sample (n = 2829) from Adhering to Dietary Approaches for Personal Taste (ADAPT), an online study conducted in self-identified popular diet followers. Adherence was categorized into 3 groups: &gt;95% of the time (high adherers = HA), between 75–95% (moderate adherers = MA); &lt;75% time (lower adherers = LA). The Power of Food Scale (POF) assessed susceptibility to the food environment (availability, presentation, taste), with higher scores indicating food has a higher power over dietary decisions. The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire captured cognitive restraint (CR), uncontrolled eating (UE), and emotional eating (EE), with higher scores indicating greater response to the specific eating behavior. The Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI) measured perceived habit strength with respect to eating, with a lower score indicating stronger habits. We used ANCOVA adjusting for age, sex, time on diet, and diet group to compare POF, CR, UE, EE, and SRHI outcomes across adherence groups. Results Sixty six percent were HA (n = 1881), 28% MA (n = 787), and 6% LA (n = 161). LA were significantly more susceptible to food availability (mean [95% CI] = 14.9 [13.8–16.1]), presentation (12.1 [11.2–13.1]), and taste (13.4 [12.6–14.2], compared to HA (11 [10.7–11.3], 8 [7.8–8.3],11.6 [11.4–11.9]), respectively. LA indicated significantly greater UE (21 [20.2–21.9]) than HA (17 [16.7–17.4]) and EE (LA = 8 [7.5–8.4] vs. HA = 6.1 [6–6.3]). No significant differences were observed with respect to CR. LA reported weaker SRHI habits (3.4 [3.2–3.6]) compared to HA (1.7 [1.7–1.8]). Differences seen between the LA and MA were similar to those described for HA. Conclusions Our findings show that higher self-reported adherence to dietary patterns is associated with lower susceptibility to negative influences in the food environment, lower uncontrolled and emotional eating, and greater habit strength. Future research should investigate the directionality of the relationship between eating behavior and adherence. Funding Sources USDA Cooperative Agreements 58-8050-9-004 & 58-8050-4-003, General Mills Bell Institute of Health & Nutrition

Mechanisms of Action in a Behavioral Weight-Management Program: Latent Growth Curve Analysis

Background A greater understanding of the mechanisms of action of weight-management interventions is needed to inform the design of effective interventions. Purpose To investigate whether dietary restraint, habit strength, or diet self-regulation mediated the impact of a behavioral weight-management intervention on weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Methods Latent growth curve analysis (LGCA) was conducted on trial data in which adults (N = 1,267) with a body mass index (BMI) ≥28 kg/m2 were randomized to either a brief intervention (booklet on losing weight), a 12 week weight-management program or the same program for 52 weeks. LGCA estimated the trajectory of the variables over four time points (baseline and 3, 12 and 24 months) to assess whether potential mechanisms of action mediated the impact of the weight-management program on BMI. Results Participants randomized to the 12 and 52 week programs had a significantly greater decrease in BMI than the brief intervention. This direct effect became nonsignificant when dietary restraint, habit strength, and autonomous diet self-regulation were controlled for. The total indirect effect was significant for both the 12 (estimate = −1.33, standard error [SE] = 0.41, p = .001) and 52 week (estimate = −2.13, SE = 0.52, p &lt; .001) program. Only the individual indirect effect for dietary restraint was significant for the 12 week intervention, whereas all three indirect effects were significant for the 52 week intervention. Conclusions Behavior change techniques that target dietary restraint, habit strength, and autonomous diet self-regulation should be considered when designing weight loss and weight loss maintenance interventions. Longer interventions may need to target both deliberative and automatic control processes to support successful weight management.

A Systematic Review Examining the Relationship Between Habit and Physical Activity Behavior in Longitudinal Studies

Purpose: To explain physical activity behavior, social-cognitive theories were most commonly used in the past. Besides conscious processes, the approach of dual processes additionally incorporates non-conscious regulatory processes into physical activity behavior theories. Habits are one of various non-conscious variables that can influence behavior and thus play an important role in terms of behavior change. The aim of this review was to examine the relationship between habit strength and physical activity behavior in longitudinal studies.Methods: According to the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was conducted in three databases. Only peer-reviewed articles using a longitudinal study design were included. Both, habit and physical activity were measured at least once, and habit was related to physical activity behavior. Study quality was evaluated by assessment tools of the NHLBI.Results: Of 3.382 identified publications between 2016 and 2019, fifteen studies with different study designs were included. Most studies supported that positive correlations between habit and physical activity exist. Some positive direct and indirect effects of habit on physical activity were detected and only a minority of studies showed the influence of physical activity on habit strength. Studies differentiating between instigation and execution habit found positive correlations and revealed instigation habit as a stronger predictor of physical activity. The quality of studies was rated as reasonable using assessment tools of the NHLBI.Conclusion: This review revealed a bidirectional relationship between habit and physical activity. Whether habit predicts physical activity or vice versa is still unclear. The observation of habit influencing physical activity may be most appropriate in studies fostering physical activity maintenance while the influence of physical activity on habit may be reasonable in experimental studies with physical activity as intervention content to form a habit. Future investigations should differentiate between habit formation and physical activity maintenance studies depending on the research objective. Long-term study designs addressing the complexity of habitual behavior would be beneficial for establishing cue-behavior associations for the formation of habits. Furthermore, studies should differentiate between instigation and execution habit in order to investigate the influence of both variables on physical activity behavior independently.