Less is more when it comes to beating bad habits

An evidence-backed way to break habits involves forming what's known as "if-then" implementation intentions that target the situational cues to temptation. "If I am feeling bored then I will eat an apple" would be a plan designed to break the automatic link between boredom and unhealthy snacking. Most research in this area has focused on the benefits of just one plan. Of course, in reality, our bad habits often have multiple cues. It's not just boredom that prompts a mindless grope for the cookie jar, but also the taste of tea or coffee, watching TV, or the after-buzz of a gym visit. A new paper examines the effectiveness of forming multiple if-then plans, one for each habit-provoking prompt.

Aukje Verhoeven asked 63 young women to keep a snacking diary for three days. They then used these records to identify cues to their unhealthy snacking and to form either one or three if-then plans for replacing cue-snacking routines with healthier behaviours. There was also a control group who simply thought of healthy snack alternatives. All the participants then kept a record of their unhealthy snacking for three further days.

The take-home result? The women in the single if-then plan condition and those in the control condition showed a reduction in their snacking from baseline to follow-up (2.01 to 1.47 average daily snacks, and 2.45 snacks to 1.45, respectively). By contrast, the women in the multiple if-then plan group showed no significant reduction in snacking (1.95 daily snac...

Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - August 5, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Christian Jarrett Source Type: blogs