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Motivation and its relationship to adherence to self-monitoring and weight loss in a 16-week Internet behavioral
Kelly H Webber1, Deborah F Tate, Dianne S Ward
1Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA. Kelly.webber@uky.edu
Objective:
To examine changes in motivation and the relationship of motivation to adherence to self-monitoring and weight loss in a 16-week Internet behavioral weight-loss intervention.
Design:
Two-group randomized design.
Setting:
This study was conducted over the Internet.
Participants:
Sixty-six women, ages 22-65, with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 40, and with a home computer with Internet access, participated.
Intervention:
These data are from an Internet behavioral weight-loss program in which all participants received a face-to-face initial session followed by the 16-week Internet program.
Main Outcome Measures:
Adherence to self-monitoring and weight loss were the main outcome measures.
Analysis:
Linear regression and mediation analysis using the Baron and Kenny method were conducted.
Results:
Autonomous motivation increased initially and remained high for those who ultimately achieved a 5% weight loss, but declined over time for participants who did not achieve a 5% weight loss. Autonomous motivation at 4 weeks was a predictor of adherence to self-monitoring and 16-week weight loss. Adherence mediated the relationship between autonomous motivation and weight loss.
Conclusions And Implications:
These results suggest that autonomous motivation may be a promising intervention target for promoting program procedure adherence and weight loss.
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