Eschle Timothy M, McCarrick Dane
Psychology Department, School of Education and Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, UK.
School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2021 Mar 11;11(3):33. doi: 10.3390/bs11030033.
Perseverative cognition (PC), consisting of worry and rumination, has been consistently linked to a variety of poorer health outcomes, namely via the worsening of stress-induced health risk behaviours. However, research into PC and unhealthy food choice, a key health behaviour, still remains relatively unexplored. In the current pilot investigation, 284 participants were recruited to take part in an online food choice paradigm before completing the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ) and the Brief State Rumination Inventory (BSRI). As a reduced availability of unhealthy snacks has been shown to improve snack choice, participants were randomly allocated to either an even condition (a 3:3 ratio of ≤99 kcal and ≥199 kcal snacks) or an uneven condition (a 4:2 ratio in favour of ≤99 kcal snacks). It was hypothesized that higher levels of PC may predict greater instances of poorer snack choices across, or even within, this paradigm. Despite an increase availability of lower calorie snacks leading to a healthier snack choice, both state and trait PC measures did not significantly influence snack choice irrespective of this varying availability. Although, marginal trends were found for higher state PC and higher calorie crisp selections. The current pilot therefore adds to the growing literature advocating for the use of behavioural economic tactics to engender healthier food choices, yet further work is needed to unpick the mediating role of PC (and its components) in snack consumption paradigms.
执迷性认知（PC）由担忧和沉思组成，一直与各种较差的健康结果相关联，具体而言是通过压力诱发的健康风险行为的恶化。然而，对于PC与不健康食物选择（一种关键的健康行为）之间的研究仍相对较少。在当前的试点调查中，招募了284名参与者，让他们在完成执迷性思维问卷（PTQ）和简短状态沉思量表（BSRI）之前，参与一个在线食物选择范式。由于已表明减少不健康零食的供应可改善零食选择，参与者被随机分配到均等条件组（≤99千卡和≥199千卡零食的比例为3:3）或不均等条件组（有利于≤99千卡零食的比例为4:2）。研究假设是，较高水平的PC可能预示着在这个范式中，甚至在范式内，较差零食选择的情况会更多。尽管较低热量零食供应的增加导致了更健康的零食选择，但无论这种供应如何变化，状态和特质PC测量都没有显著影响零食选择。不过，发现较高状态PC与较高热量薯片选择之间存在边际趋势。因此，当前的试点研究为越来越多主张使用行为经济策略来促成更健康食物选择的文献增添了内容，但仍需要进一步的工作来理清PC（及其组成部分）在零食消费范式中的中介作用。
