van Koningsbruggen Guido M, Veling Harm, Stroebe Wolfgang, Aarts Henk
Department of Communication Science, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Br J Health Psychol. 2014 Nov;19(4):767-82. doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12075. Epub 2013 Oct 21.
Palatable food, such as sweets, contains properties that automatically trigger the impulse to consume it even when people have goals or intentions to refrain from consuming such food. We compared the effectiveness of two interventions in reducing the portion size of palatable food that people select for themselves. Specifically, the use of dieting implementation intentions that reduce behaviour towards palatable food via top-down implementation of a dieting goal was pitted against a stop-signal training that changes the impulse-evoking quality of palatable food from bottom-up.
We compared the two interventions using a 2 × 2 factorial design.
Participants completed a stop-signal training in which they learned to withhold a behavioural response upon presentation of tempting sweets (vs. control condition) and formed implementation intentions to diet (vs. control condition). Selected portion size was measured in a sweet-shop-like environment (Experiment 1) and through a computerized snack dispenser (Experiment 2).
Both interventions reduced the amount of sweets selected in the sweet shop environment (Experiment 1) and the snack dispenser (Experiment 2). On average, participants receiving an intervention selected 36% (Experiment 1) and 51% (Experiment 2) fewer sweets than control participants. In both studies, combining the interventions did not lead to additive effects: Employing one of the interventions appears to successfully eliminate instrumental behaviour towards tempting food, making the other intervention redundant.
Both interventions reduce self-selected portion size, which is considered a major contributor to the current obesity epidemic.
What is already known on this subject? Exposure to temptations, such as unhealthy palatable food, often frustrates people's attainment of long-term health goals. Current approaches to self-control suggest that this is partly because temptations automatically trigger impulsive or hedonic processes that override the influence of more deliberate processes on behaviour. This perspective has stimulated the development of new interventions - which have so far been studied in isolation - aimed at decreasing the influence of impulsive or hedonic processes to decrease unhealthy eating behaviour. What does this study add? Linking sweets to stop signals and diet-prime implementation intentions both reduce self-selected portion size. Combining the interventions does not lead to additive effects. Each intervention reduces self-selected portion size of sweets, making the other redundant.
美味的食物，如糖果，具有一些特性，即使人们有目标或意图避免食用这类食物，它们也会自动触发食用冲动。我们比较了两种干预措施在减少人们为自己选择的美味食物份量方面的效果。具体而言，将通过自上而下实施节食目标来减少对美味食物行为的节食实施意图的使用，与一种从下而上改变美味食物诱发冲动特性的停止信号训练进行了对比。
我们使用2×2析因设计比较了这两种干预措施。
参与者完成了一项停止信号训练，在该训练中他们学会在看到诱人的糖果时抑制行为反应（与对照条件相比），并形成节食的实施意图（与对照条件相比）。在类似糖果店的环境中（实验1）以及通过电脑化零食分配器（实验2）测量所选择的份量大小。
两种干预措施都减少了在糖果店环境（实验1）和零食分配器（实验2）中选择的糖果数量。平均而言，接受干预的参与者选择的糖果比对照参与者少36%（实验1）和51%（实验2）。在两项研究中，将这两种干预措施结合起来并没有产生累加效应：采用其中一种干预措施似乎就能成功消除针对诱人食物的工具性行为，使另一种干预措施变得多余。
两种干预措施都减少了自我选择的份量大小，而这被认为是当前肥胖流行的一个主要因素。
关于这个主题已知的情况是什么？接触诱惑，如不健康的美味食物，常常会阻碍人们实现长期健康目标。当前的自我控制方法表明，部分原因是诱惑会自动触发冲动或享乐过程，从而凌驾于更审慎过程对行为的影响之上。这种观点推动了旨在减少冲动或享乐过程影响以减少不健康饮食行为的新干预措施的发展——到目前为止这些措施都是单独进行研究的。这项研究增加了什么？将糖果与停止信号以及节食启动实施意图联系起来都能减少自我选择的份量大小。将这两种干预措施结合起来不会产生累加效应。每种干预措施都能减少糖果的自我选择份量大小，使另一种变得多余。
