Comparing two psychological interventions in reducing impulsive processes of eating behaviour: effects on...

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Palatable foods trigger automatic consumption impulses, hindering health goals.
• Existing self-control strategies struggle against automatic, hedonic processes.
• New interventions aim to reduce the influence of these automatic processes on eating behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of stop-signal training and dieting implementation intentions in reducing palatable food portion size.
• To investigate whether combining these interventions yields additive effects.

Main Methods:

• A 2x2 factorial design was used to compare the two interventions.
• Participants underwent stop-signal training or a control condition.
• Participants formed dieting implementation intentions or a control condition.
• Portion size selection was measured in simulated and computerized environments.

Main Results:

• Both stop-signal training and dieting implementation intentions significantly reduced sweets selection.
• Participants selected 36-51% fewer sweets compared to controls.
• Combining the interventions did not result in additive effects, indicating redundancy.

Conclusions:

• Both interventions effectively reduce self-selected portion sizes of palatable foods.
• These findings offer strategies to combat the obesity epidemic by controlling food intake.
• One intervention appears sufficient to mitigate impulsive eating behavior towards tempting foods.