School of Psychology, Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK.
School of Psychology, Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK.
Appetite. 2023 Apr 1;183:106459. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2023.106459. Epub 2023 Jan 13.
Underhydration has significant adverse physical and mental health effects, yet many people drink too little water. Implementation intentions have been found to effectively promote many health behaviors, but little is known about the processes underlying their effects in naturalistic settings, and whether they could improve water drinking. This mixed-methods study assessed the impact and potential underlying processes of using implementation intentions to increase self-reported water intake over a five-day follow-up. Ninety-five participants (Mage = 39, SD = 12) received an educational quiz to increase their water drinking motivation before being randomly assigned to the control or intervention group. Participants also completed a qualitative survey that assessed the processes underlying their attempts to increase water intake. Quantitative results suggested that most participants increased their average daily water intake regardless of group. Qualitative results indicated that implementation intention participants struggled with remembering and the perceived effort of preparation and drinking behaviors, which reduced the effect of planning on behavior. This study provides essential theoretical and methodological considerations for researchers studying implementation intentions, as the effects and mechanisms of implementation intentions in real-life situations may be more complex than previously assumed. For example, the results suggest that implementation intentions did not automatize remembering and performing the behavior in ways the current literature theorizes. Other kinds of interventions may be needed to improve the complex daily-life behaviour of water drinking.
脱水对身心健康有重大的不良影响，但许多人饮水量不足。实施意向已被发现能有效地促进许多健康行为，但在自然环境下，其影响的潜在过程是什么，以及它们是否能改善饮水习惯，这方面的了解还很少。本混合方法研究评估了在五天的随访中使用实施意向来增加自我报告的饮水量的影响和潜在过程。95 名参与者（Mage = 39，SD = 12）在被随机分配到对照组或干预组之前，接受了一个教育测验，以增加他们的饮水动机。参与者还完成了一份定性调查，评估了他们试图增加饮水量的潜在过程。定量结果表明，大多数参与者无论在哪个组，平均每天的饮水量都有所增加。定性结果表明，实施意向参与者在记忆和准备及饮水行为的感知努力方面遇到了困难，这降低了计划对行为的影响。这项研究为研究实施意向的研究人员提供了重要的理论和方法考虑，因为实施意向在现实生活中的影响和机制可能比之前假设的更为复杂。例如，结果表明，实施意向并没有像当前文献理论化的那样自动记住和执行行为。可能需要其他类型的干预措施来改善复杂的日常饮水行为。
