Using Tailored Messages to Encourage Healthy Lifestyle Choices in a Brief, Self-directed Intervention

The study aimed to investigate 1) if a brief, regulatory focus-based intervention could promote weight control and changes in certain lifestyle behaviors and 2) how weight was affected by changes in these behaviors. The lifestyle behaviors of interest included meal regularity, self-monitoring of diet and physical activity, fast-food eating, screen related viewing and eating, dietary modifications, self-weighing, and physical activity. It was hypothesized that increases in meal regularity, self-monitoring, healthy dietary modifications, self-weighing, and physical activity would lead to better weight control over six months. Conversely, it was hypothesized that increases in fast food consumption and screen related eating and viewing would lead to poorer weight control over six months. It was expected that promotion and prevention conditions, relative to the control condition, would lead to better weight control and increases in meal regularity, self-monitoring, healthy dietary modifications, self-weighing, and physical activity, and decreases in fast food consumption and screen related eating and viewing. Furthermore, it was expected that the promotion condition would lead to better outcomes than the prevention condition.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Weight Control
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Minimal contact control; Behavioral: Promotion and Prevention Interventions

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 200
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Jacksonville, Florida, United States, 32224
      • University of North Florida

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18+ years old
• generally healthy
• BMI between 18.5 and 35

Exclusion Criteria:

• pregnancy within the past 6 months
• current pregnancy
• plan to get pregnant in the next 6 months
• serious physical or psychological problems that would contraindicate participation in a weight-related program
• history of anorexia or bulimia
• diabetes or hypertension
• current participation in a weight-loss program
• BMI < 18.5, >35.0

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Minimal contact control; Participants in the control group received a pamphlet about general dietary and physical activity guidelines.	Behavioral: Minimal contact control; Participants in the control group received a pamphlet about general dietary and physical activity guidelines.
Experimental: Promotion focus group; Participants completed a 1-hour educational information session with study staff and received a packet which contained information about energy balance, healthy food choices, exercise recommendations, strategies for weight control, goal setting, and responding to lapses. Participants were encouraged to track their food intake and exercise with a provided log book or free apps (Lose It!; MyFitnessPal). All messages and study tasks were framed in terms of promotion focus. Email messages were sent every 2 to 3 weeks to reinforce the study messages about health promotion and weight control.	Behavioral: Promotion and Prevention Interventions; regulatory focus groups, participants completed a 1-hour educational information session with study staff and received a packet which contained information about energy balance, healthy food choices, exercise recommendations, strategies for weight control, goal setting, and responding to lapses. Participants were encouraged to track their food intake and exercise with a provided log book or free apps (Lose It!; MyFitnessPal). The informational content and intervention procedures were identical except for the framing of messages and tasks. The prevention messages emphasized protecting one's health (e.g., failing to regularly exercise can undermine your weight control program and lead to poor health; if you do not vigilantly follow these behaviors, you will not fulfill your weight control goals or protect your health and well-being; not eating fruits and vegetables results in failure to supply the body with the nutrients it needs). The promotion messages emphasized promoting one's health
Experimental: Prevention focus group; Participants completed a 1-hour educational information session with study staff and received a packet which contained information about energy balance, healthy food choices, exercise recommendations, strategies for weight control, goal setting, and responding to lapses. Participants were encouraged to track their food intake and exercise with a provided log book or free apps (Lose It!; MyFitnessPal). All messages and study tasks were framed in terms of prevention focus. Email messages were sent every 2 to 3 weeks to reinforce the study messages about health promotion and weight control.	Behavioral: Promotion and Prevention Interventions; regulatory focus groups, participants completed a 1-hour educational information session with study staff and received a packet which contained information about energy balance, healthy food choices, exercise recommendations, strategies for weight control, goal setting, and responding to lapses. Participants were encouraged to track their food intake and exercise with a provided log book or free apps (Lose It!; MyFitnessPal). The informational content and intervention procedures were identical except for the framing of messages and tasks. The prevention messages emphasized protecting one's health (e.g., failing to regularly exercise can undermine your weight control program and lead to poor health; if you do not vigilantly follow these behaviors, you will not fulfill your weight control goals or protect your health and well-being; not eating fruits and vegetables results in failure to supply the body with the nutrients it needs). The promotion messages emphasized promoting one's health

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Weight Change	Participant were weighed by study staff during a baseline measurement session (M = 153.7 lb, SD = 31.6) and then again after 6 months (M = 149.9 lb, SD = 28.9). Weight was self-reported at 3 months (M = 150.7 lb, SD = 29.4).	baseline, 3 months, 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
meal regularity change	Participants were asked about the number of times in a typical week they 1) ate breakfast, 2) ate lunch, and 3) ate dinner. They responded on a 5-point scale: 0 times, 1-2 times, 3-4 times, 5-6 times, or 7+ times. Mean scores were created for the baseline measurement session (M = 4.00, SD = .73) and for the 3-month measurement session (M = 4.17, SD = .72).	baseline, 3 months
fast-food eating change	Participants were asked about the number of times in a typical week they 1) ate food prepared at a fast-food restaurant and 2) purchased food at a convenience store/ gas station. They responded on a 5-point scale: 0 times, 1-2 times, 3-4 times, 5-6 times, or 7+ times. Mean scores were created for the baseline measurement session (M = 1.74, SD = .66) and for the 3-month measurement session (M = 1.63, SD = .53).	baseline, 3 months
screen related eating and viewing change	Participants indicated the frequency per week that they 1) ate a meal while watching TV, 2) ate a snack while watching TV, and 3) ate after 8 pm. The participants responded by using a 5-point scale: 0 times, 1-2 time, 3-4 times, 5-6 times, or 7+ times. They also indicated the number of hours on an average day that they 4) use a phone/tablet/computer, 5) watch TV and 6) sit or recline (not including sleeping). Their responses were recorded on a 7-point scale: 0, <1 hour, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours, or 5+ hours. Mean scores across the six items were calculated for the baseline measurement session (M = 3.44, SD = .90) and the 3-month measurement session (M = 3.34, SD = .90).	baseline, 3 months
dietary modifications change	Dietary modification was measured by asking participants how often they 1) reduced/limited their portions, 2) decreased/limited snacks, 3) decreased/limited sweets, 4) decreased/limited fried food, 5) decreased/limited carbs, 6) decreased/limited fat, 7) ate fruits and vegetables, and 8) planned meals. Participants responded on a 5-point scale: never, rarely, sometimes, often, or very often. Mean scores were calculated for the baseline measurement session (M = 2.96, SD = 0.74) and for the 3-month measurement session (M = 3.32, SD = 0.73).	baseline, 3 months
self-monitoring change	For self-monitoring, participants were asked how often they wrote down the calorie content of the foods they ate and the amount and types of exercise they did. Participants responded on a 5-point scale: never, rarely, sometimes, often, or very often. Mean scores were then calculated for the baseline measurement session (M = 1.86, SD = 1.03) and for the 3-month measurement session (M = 2.85, SD = 1.26).	baseline, 3 months
self-weighing change	At baseline, participants responded to the question "How often do you weigh yourself?" on a 7-point scale: never, about once a year or less, every couple of months, every month, every week, every day, or more than once a day (M = 3.83, SD = 1.31). At 3 months, they responded to the question "In the past week, how many times did you weigh yourself?" on a 5-point scale: never, 1-2 times, 3-4 times, 5-6 times, or 7 or more times (M = 2.01, SD = 1.02).	baseline, 3 months
physical activity change	To measure physical activity, participants were asked how often they 1) planned their exercise, 2) walked for at least 30 minutes at a time, and 3) engaged in other moderate to vigorous exercise. Participants responded on a 5-point scale: never, rarely, sometimes, often, or very often. Mean scores were calculated for the baseline measurement session (M = 3.31, SD = .94) and for the 3-month measurement session (M = 3.55, SD = 1.08).	baseline, 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of North Florida

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 30, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 20, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): March 20, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 14, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 25, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 4, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 17, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 14, 2025
• Last Verified: February 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 724308

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Will be shared on open science framework.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No