title: The effectiveness of an implementation intentions intervention for fruit and vegetable consumption as moderated by self-schema status.
abstract: Two experiments were conducted to determine whether self-schema status moderates the effectiveness of an implementation intentions intervention on nutrition behavior among university students not meeting relevant dietary guidelines. In Experiment 1, students were asked to eat at least 2 servings of fruit and 3 of vegetables daily for a week. Implementation intention condition participants listed what fruits and vegetables they would eat and when and where they would eat them; control condition participants did not. Among those who did not initially meet vegetable targets (n = 108), implementation intentions increased the vegetable consumption of healthy eater schematics, but not of nonschematics. There were no significant effects for fruit consumption among those initially not meeting fruit targets (n = 83). Experiment 2 replicated the moderating effect of healthy eater self-schema status in regard to the effectiveness of an implementation intentions intervention for vegetable consumption among undergraduates who were not initially eating at least 3 servings of vegetables daily (n = 62). Findings are discussed in regard to promoting healthy eating among university students, as well as the implementation intention, self-schema, and self-concordance literatures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Villanova University, PA 19085, USA. Electronic address: deborah.kendzierski@villanova.edu.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kendzierski
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Villanova University, PA 19085, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Ritter
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Villanova University, PA 19085, USA.
authors.forename: Tammy K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Stump
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Villanova University, PA 19085, USA.
authors.forename: Chelsea L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Anglin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities; D014675:Vegetables; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dietary intervention; Fruit consumption; Healthy eating; Implementation intentions; Planning; Self-concordance; Self-regulation; Self-schema; Vegetable consumption