Computerized neurocognitive training for improving dietary health and facilitating weight loss

Nearly 70% of Americans are overweight, in large part because of overconsumption of high-calorie foods such as sweets. Reducing sweets is difficult because powerful drives toward reward overwhelm inhibitory control (i.e., the ability to withhold a prepotent response) capacities. Computerized inhibitory control trainings (ICTs) have shown positive outcomes, but impact on real-world health behavior has been variable, potentially because of limitations inherent in existing paradigms, e.g., low in frequency, intrinsic enjoyment, personalization, and ability to adapt to increasing ability. The present study aimed to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a gamified and non-gamified, daily, personalized, and adaptive ICT designed to facilitate weight loss by targeting consumption of sweets. Participants (N = 106) were randomized to one of four conditions in a 2 (gamified vs. non-gamified) by 2 (ICT vs. sham) factorial design. Participants were prescribed a no-added-sugar diet and completed 42 daily, at-home trainings, followed by two weekly booster trainings. Results indicated that the ICTs were feasible and acceptable. Surprisingly, compliance to the 44 trainings was excellent (88.8%) and equivalent across both gamified and non-gamified conditions. As hypothesized, the impact of ICT on weight loss was moderated by implicit preference for sweet foods [F(1,95) = 6.17, p = .02] such that only those with higher-than-average implicit preference benefited (8-week weight losses for ICT were 3.1% vs. 2.2% for sham). A marginally significant effect was observed for gamification to reduce the impact of ICT. Implications of findings for continued development of ICTs to impact health behavior are discussed

The implicit relational assessment procedure: emerging reliability and validity data

The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) is a measure of ‘implicit cognition' developed on the basis of a contemporary behavioural analysis of language and cognition. The IRAP has now been applied to a range of foci over five years of published research. A frequently-cited caveat in publications to date is the need for further research to gauge the reliability and validity of the IRAP as an implicit measure. This review paper will provide a critical synthesis of available evidence for reliability and validity. The review applies a multifaceted test-theory approach to validity, and reliability is assessed through meta-analysis of published data. The discussion critically considers reviewed IRAP evidence with reference to the extant literature on alternative implicit measures, limitations of studies to date, and consideration of broader conceptual issues

Continuous use of fitness apps and shaping factors among college students: a mixed-method investigation

Objective: This current study pursued an exploration of the psychological mechanism that determines college students’ continuance intention to use fitness apps. Methods: This current study adopted a mixed methods research that composed two distinct phases. Study 1 was quantitative research that helped to identify determinants of Chinese college students’ continuance intention to use. A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 379 college students to ascertain their user experience. Study 2 was qualitative research. A semi-structured interview was conducted with a sample of 10 college students. Study 2 can be seen as a follow-up study and it pursued an in-depth understanding on how college students use fitness apps in the everyday life and their views towards study 1’s major findings. Results: The results revealed that five factors (confirmed usefulness, confirmed ease of use, satisfaction, fitness achievement and social connection) were found to significantly and positively affect college students’ continuous intention to use fitness apps. Entertainment did not show obvious impact. In the interview, college students reported that even if they don't obtain entertainment from fitness apps, they will still push themselves to use them, because they have a very specific goal when using fitness apps, which is to achieve health and fitness. Conclusion: These findings indicated that successful fitness apps should make users feel convenient to use and indeed improves the fitness user's efficiency. Besides, people are more eager to get the information with strong credibility with the negligible effort. This implies more efforts should be made to design apps that can provide high-quality services. Moreover, if apps designers can pay more attention to protecting the personal information and data, it will inspire more people to use social connection functions

Weight suppression as a predictor variable in the treatment of eating disorders: a systematic review

Introduction: Weight suppression (WS – the difference between highest body weight and current body weight) has been proposed as a predictor of treatment outcome within eating disorders (EDs), although this hypothesis has not been consistently supported. Aim/Question: Review the association between pre-treatment WS and outcome following psychological treatment for EDs. Method: A comprehensive electronic database search for published and unpublished literature from 1979 to 2017. Reference lists were also inspected. Eligibility criteria were determined according to relevant guidelines and a quality appraisal was conducted. Results: Twelve studies met inclusion criteria (one was subsequently excluded based on insufficient data). Greater WS was generally associated with weight gain at post-treatment although not with other treatment outcomes. Discussion: The existing evidence, with data from 1566 participants, is summarised according to three main post-treatment outcomes: weight change; treatment completion; and symptom abstinence. Patients with disordered eating and greater WS may need to gain more weight than others during treatment to achieve good outcomes. Recommendations for future studies are provided. Implications for Practice: Evidence-based treatments for EDs may benefit from considering WS when planning treatment, such as further psychoeducation on weight changes. Societal interventions regarding promotion of healthy eating may also draw on these findings

Initial validation of the mindful eating scale

Published Mindfulness, 2013, 5(6), pp. 719-729. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12671-013-0227-5Self-report scales for mindfulness are now widely used in applied settings, and have made a contribution to research, for instance in demonstrating mediation effects. To date there are no convincing data as to whether mindfulness skills generalise fully across life domains, and so some researchers have developed mindfulness scales for particular domains of behaviour. We present the development of a self-report scale to measure mindfulness with respect to eating behaviours