Successful behavior change in obesity interventions in adults: a systematic review of self-regulation mediators

Table 3 Mediators/predictors of medium/long-term weight control (≥12 months)

Putative mediators (categories)	Formal mediation analyses			All analyses
Putative mediators (categories)	Number of studies	Times tested	Effect, %	Number of studies	Times tested	Effect, %
↓ Controlled motivation for PA	1	4	0	1	8	0
↑ Self-regulation skill use	3	3	75	6	6	83^a
↑ Body image/self-worth	2	3	100	4	34	62*
↑ Self-efficacy/barriers	2	3	67	6	28	68*
↑ Autonomous motivation for PA	1	2	100	2	8	100*
↑ Flexible restraint	1	2	100	2	5	60
↑ Positive outcome expectations/beliefs	1	2	0	3	6	50
↓ Eating disinhibition	1	1	100	3	16	38*
↑ Cognitive restraint (total)				4	8	50*
↓ Perceived hunger				3	5	20*
↑ Coping mechanisms				1	2	0

Notes: Blank spaces correspond to variables that were not tested using formal mediation analyses. Times tested refers to the number of times a variable was analyzed; Effect, % refers to the number of times an effect was found and is expressed as percentage. Results are organized according to the number of times each variable was tested in mediation analyses, depicted in the second column, in descent order. For variables not tested in mediation analyses, the fifth column (times tested in overall analyses) should be taken as the reference. * ≥ 50% of these effects are based on correlational analyses. ^aTested once in a weak quality study. [↑] means that higher value of (variable) was associated with improved outcomes; [↓] means "lower value of (variable)" was associated with improved outcomes.

ISSN: 1741-7015