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

Table 5 Mediators/predictors of medium/long-term physical activity (≥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	2	8	0	2	12	25*
↑ Autonomous motivation for PA	2	6	83	2	14	93*
↑ Self-efficacy/barriers	4	6	67^a	6	12	75^b
↑ Positive outcome expectations/beliefs	2	3	0	3	3	0
↑ Self-regulation skill usage	2	2	50^a	3	3	67^b
↑ Coping mechanisms	1	2	0	1	2	0
↑ Decisional balance (pros/cons)				1	2	0
↑ Cognitive restraint				1	3	0
↑ Processes of change				1	2	0

Notes: Blank spaces correspond to variables that were not tested in 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. ^bTested twice in weak quality studies. [↑] means that higher value of (variable) was associated with improved outcomes; [↓] means "lower value of (variable)" was associated with improved outcomes.

ISSN: 1741-7015