Background: Approach bias modification is a novel intervention that can be used to modify automat... more Background: Approach bias modification is a novel intervention that can be used to modify automatic approach tendencies for appetitive cues. The current systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of techniques used to modify approach bias in the health domain, in particular for alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and unhealthy eating. Methods: Searches were conducted in PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google Scholar between October and December 2015 for published studies that used an experimental design to implement at least one training session and reported a health behavior related outcome. Findings: From 437 identified papers, 15 papers (comprising 18 individual studies) were included and coded on a number of characteristics, including consumption behavior, participants, task, training and control conditions, number of training sessions and trials, outcome measure, and findings. All studies, except one, that found favorable outcomes for the training group on outcomes (e.g., reduced consumption in the laboratory, lower relapse rates, and improvement in self-reported appetitive behavior) had also successfully re-trained approach bias for appetitive cues. Discussion: The current review concluded that approach bias modification is effective for modifying both automatic approach action tendencies for appetitive cues and consumption behavior. Future research should aim to identify the factors associated with success of approach bias modification to improve the clinical utility of this technique for use in the health domain.
Background: Previous research shows that automatic tendencies to approach unhealthy food cues can... more Background: Previous research shows that automatic tendencies to approach unhealthy food cues can be modified using the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT) and that this technique can reduce subsequent consumption. This study aims to use the AAT to not only train an approach tendency away from unhealthy food cues, but also one toward healthy food cues so as to (a) discourage unhealthy food consumption, and (b) promote healthy eating. Methods: Undergraduate women (aim n = 160) aged 17-25 will be randomly allocated to one of four training paradigms in a 2 (Condition: approach, avoid) x 2 (Stimuli: healthy food, unhealthy food) x 2 (Time: pre-training, post-training) mixed factorial design. Healthy and unhealthy food consumption will be measured in a so-called taste test, and food choice will be assessed by a touch-screen task. Expected results: It is expected that training participants to avoid unhealthy food cues will induce an avoidance tendency away from such cues, while training participants to approach healthy food cues will induce an approach tendency toward these cues. Additionally, it is expected that the ‘approach-healthy food’ group will eat relatively more of the healthy than unhealthy snacks compared to the ‘avoid-unhealthy food’ group. Current stage of work: Data collection is scheduled to commence in March. Discussion: The findings will provide insight into the usefulness of an intervention that focusses on automatic processing of both healthy and unhealthy food cues with a view to encouraging healthy eating, an issue of considerable importance particularly in individuals with eating or weight related issues.
Background: Previous studies have effectively reduced unhealthy eating by re-training either appr... more Background: Previous studies have effectively reduced unhealthy eating by re-training either approach biases or inhibitory control. This study aimed to determine whether the combined effect of approach bias and inhibitory control training is more effective than either intervention alone. Method: Undergraduate women (N = 78, 18-27 years) were randomised to the conditions of a 2 (Approach bias: training, control) x 2 (Inhibitory control: training, control) experimental design. Food choice was assessed by a Behavioural Choice Task. Trait impulsivity was also measured, via self-report. Findings: Participants in the approach bias training group showed an avoidance bias for unhealthy food, while the control group showed an approach bias. This training was more effective when combined with inhibitory control training, and training effects were more pronounced for individuals high on trait impulsivity. Training effects also translated into healthy eating behaviour, with the approach bias training group making healthier food choices when presented with healthy and unhealthy foods. Discussion: Results support dual-process models of health behaviour and suggest the need for a combined intervention aimed at encouraging healthy food intake.
The present study aimed to investigate the effect of the spatial positioning of a healthy food cu... more The present study aimed to investigate the effect of the spatial positioning of a healthy food cue in the context of unhealthy food cues on subsequent food choice. Undergraduate women (N = 143) were asked to choose a food from a pictorial-style menu that presented a salad and three unhealthier food options in a horizontal line. The position of the salad was manipulated to be presented either (a) in the middle, (b) at the end, or (c) separated by 5 cm to the right of the line of unhealthier food options. Participants also completed a questionnaire measure of dietary restraint. Participants were significantly more likely to choose the salad when it was presented separately rather than in the middle of the unhealthier food options. This effect was not moderated by dietary restraint. The findings point to the possibility of designing pictorial menus in fast-food outlets in such a way as to subtly nudge people towards making healthier food choices.
Previous attempts to promote healthy eating using explicit techniques have not been consistently ... more Previous attempts to promote healthy eating using explicit techniques have not been consistently successful. We therefore investigated an implicit strategy (item placement techniques) to encourage healthy food choices in the context of snack menus. Two experimental studies compared presentation of healthy items in the top, middle, and bottom sections of a snack menu. Study 1 compared these presentations in a physical paper-based menu, while Study 2 used an online menu. Menus consisted of 8 unhealthy and 4 healthy items, arranged in three rows of four in Study 1, and one column of 12 in Study 2. In each study, participants selected one food item from one of the three experimental menus, before completing the Revised Restraint Scale (to determine dietary restraint status). In Study 1 (n = 172), item placement condition did not predict healthiness of food choice. In Study 2 (n = 182), healthy items were most popular from the first section of the menu, in comparison to the middle or last sections. Dietary restraint did not moderate the effect of item placement condition on food choice. In line with nudging principles, our results suggest that item placement techniques could be a potentially powerful tool in promoting healthy choices from online snack menus.
Recent studies have documented a shift in the cultural ideal of physical attractiveness, with wom... more Recent studies have documented a shift in the cultural ideal of physical attractiveness, with women subscribing to a visibly toned ideal that emphasises health and fitness. The present study experimentally investigated the impact of athletic and muscular fitness-idealised images compared to traditional thin ideal images on women's body dissatisfaction and exercise behaviour, under the framework of Social Comparison Theory. Participants were 106 female undergraduate students randomly assigned to view one of three sets of images (thin ideal, athletic ideal, or muscular ideal) followed by a bout of exercise. Acute exposure to athletic ideal and thin ideal images led to increased body dissatisfaction, but exposure to muscular ideal images did not. Relative to thin ideal images, fitness-idealised images did not motivate participants to engage in higher levels of exercise suggesting that this type of fitness inspiration might not motivate actual exercise behaviour.
The current study aimed to examine the effects of approach bias for unhealthy food and trait eati... more The current study aimed to examine the effects of approach bias for unhealthy food and trait eating style on consumption of unhealthy food in overweight and normal weight individuals. Participants were 245 undergraduate women aged 17 - 26 years. They completed an Approach-Avoidance Task, the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (to assess restrained, emotional, and external eating), and a taste test to measure consumption of unhealthy food. An external eating style predicted increased consumption of unhealthy food. Among overweight participants, external and emotional eating style individually moderated the relationship between approach bias for unhealthy food and subsequent consumption. Specifically, approach bias was positively related to consumption in high external and emotional eaters, but negatively related to consumption in low emotional eaters. These interactions were not observed among normal weight participants. Practically, the results suggest that overweight individuals ...
Background: Approach bias modification is a novel intervention that can be used to modify automat... more Background: Approach bias modification is a novel intervention that can be used to modify automatic approach tendencies for appetitive cues. The current systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of techniques used to modify approach bias in the health domain, in particular for alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and unhealthy eating. Methods: Searches were conducted in PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google Scholar between October and December 2015 for published studies that used an experimental design to implement at least one training session and reported a health behavior related outcome. Findings: From 437 identified papers, 15 papers (comprising 18 individual studies) were included and coded on a number of characteristics, including consumption behavior, participants, task, training and control conditions, number of training sessions and trials, outcome measure, and findings. All studies, except one, that found favorable outcomes for the training group on outcomes (e.g., reduced consumption in the laboratory, lower relapse rates, and improvement in self-reported appetitive behavior) had also successfully re-trained approach bias for appetitive cues. Discussion: The current review concluded that approach bias modification is effective for modifying both automatic approach action tendencies for appetitive cues and consumption behavior. Future research should aim to identify the factors associated with success of approach bias modification to improve the clinical utility of this technique for use in the health domain.
Background: Previous research shows that automatic tendencies to approach unhealthy food cues can... more Background: Previous research shows that automatic tendencies to approach unhealthy food cues can be modified using the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT) and that this technique can reduce subsequent consumption. This study aims to use the AAT to not only train an approach tendency away from unhealthy food cues, but also one toward healthy food cues so as to (a) discourage unhealthy food consumption, and (b) promote healthy eating. Methods: Undergraduate women (aim n = 160) aged 17-25 will be randomly allocated to one of four training paradigms in a 2 (Condition: approach, avoid) x 2 (Stimuli: healthy food, unhealthy food) x 2 (Time: pre-training, post-training) mixed factorial design. Healthy and unhealthy food consumption will be measured in a so-called taste test, and food choice will be assessed by a touch-screen task. Expected results: It is expected that training participants to avoid unhealthy food cues will induce an avoidance tendency away from such cues, while training participants to approach healthy food cues will induce an approach tendency toward these cues. Additionally, it is expected that the ‘approach-healthy food’ group will eat relatively more of the healthy than unhealthy snacks compared to the ‘avoid-unhealthy food’ group. Current stage of work: Data collection is scheduled to commence in March. Discussion: The findings will provide insight into the usefulness of an intervention that focusses on automatic processing of both healthy and unhealthy food cues with a view to encouraging healthy eating, an issue of considerable importance particularly in individuals with eating or weight related issues.
Background: Previous studies have effectively reduced unhealthy eating by re-training either appr... more Background: Previous studies have effectively reduced unhealthy eating by re-training either approach biases or inhibitory control. This study aimed to determine whether the combined effect of approach bias and inhibitory control training is more effective than either intervention alone. Method: Undergraduate women (N = 78, 18-27 years) were randomised to the conditions of a 2 (Approach bias: training, control) x 2 (Inhibitory control: training, control) experimental design. Food choice was assessed by a Behavioural Choice Task. Trait impulsivity was also measured, via self-report. Findings: Participants in the approach bias training group showed an avoidance bias for unhealthy food, while the control group showed an approach bias. This training was more effective when combined with inhibitory control training, and training effects were more pronounced for individuals high on trait impulsivity. Training effects also translated into healthy eating behaviour, with the approach bias training group making healthier food choices when presented with healthy and unhealthy foods. Discussion: Results support dual-process models of health behaviour and suggest the need for a combined intervention aimed at encouraging healthy food intake.
The present study aimed to investigate the effect of the spatial positioning of a healthy food cu... more The present study aimed to investigate the effect of the spatial positioning of a healthy food cue in the context of unhealthy food cues on subsequent food choice. Undergraduate women (N = 143) were asked to choose a food from a pictorial-style menu that presented a salad and three unhealthier food options in a horizontal line. The position of the salad was manipulated to be presented either (a) in the middle, (b) at the end, or (c) separated by 5 cm to the right of the line of unhealthier food options. Participants also completed a questionnaire measure of dietary restraint. Participants were significantly more likely to choose the salad when it was presented separately rather than in the middle of the unhealthier food options. This effect was not moderated by dietary restraint. The findings point to the possibility of designing pictorial menus in fast-food outlets in such a way as to subtly nudge people towards making healthier food choices.
Previous attempts to promote healthy eating using explicit techniques have not been consistently ... more Previous attempts to promote healthy eating using explicit techniques have not been consistently successful. We therefore investigated an implicit strategy (item placement techniques) to encourage healthy food choices in the context of snack menus. Two experimental studies compared presentation of healthy items in the top, middle, and bottom sections of a snack menu. Study 1 compared these presentations in a physical paper-based menu, while Study 2 used an online menu. Menus consisted of 8 unhealthy and 4 healthy items, arranged in three rows of four in Study 1, and one column of 12 in Study 2. In each study, participants selected one food item from one of the three experimental menus, before completing the Revised Restraint Scale (to determine dietary restraint status). In Study 1 (n = 172), item placement condition did not predict healthiness of food choice. In Study 2 (n = 182), healthy items were most popular from the first section of the menu, in comparison to the middle or last sections. Dietary restraint did not moderate the effect of item placement condition on food choice. In line with nudging principles, our results suggest that item placement techniques could be a potentially powerful tool in promoting healthy choices from online snack menus.
Recent studies have documented a shift in the cultural ideal of physical attractiveness, with wom... more Recent studies have documented a shift in the cultural ideal of physical attractiveness, with women subscribing to a visibly toned ideal that emphasises health and fitness. The present study experimentally investigated the impact of athletic and muscular fitness-idealised images compared to traditional thin ideal images on women's body dissatisfaction and exercise behaviour, under the framework of Social Comparison Theory. Participants were 106 female undergraduate students randomly assigned to view one of three sets of images (thin ideal, athletic ideal, or muscular ideal) followed by a bout of exercise. Acute exposure to athletic ideal and thin ideal images led to increased body dissatisfaction, but exposure to muscular ideal images did not. Relative to thin ideal images, fitness-idealised images did not motivate participants to engage in higher levels of exercise suggesting that this type of fitness inspiration might not motivate actual exercise behaviour.
The current study aimed to examine the effects of approach bias for unhealthy food and trait eati... more The current study aimed to examine the effects of approach bias for unhealthy food and trait eating style on consumption of unhealthy food in overweight and normal weight individuals. Participants were 245 undergraduate women aged 17 - 26 years. They completed an Approach-Avoidance Task, the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (to assess restrained, emotional, and external eating), and a taste test to measure consumption of unhealthy food. An external eating style predicted increased consumption of unhealthy food. Among overweight participants, external and emotional eating style individually moderated the relationship between approach bias for unhealthy food and subsequent consumption. Specifically, approach bias was positively related to consumption in high external and emotional eaters, but negatively related to consumption in low emotional eaters. These interactions were not observed among normal weight participants. Practically, the results suggest that overweight individuals ...
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Papers by Marika Tiggemann