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Objective: An online intervention to improve fruit and vegetable (FV) intake examines the role of planning, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy and gender. Women are not only expected to eat more FV than men, but they are also expected to be more responsive to nutritional advice and benefit more from treatment. Method: A two-arm digital intervention with 269 men and 395 women (Mage = 41.2, SDage = 11.45; range: 19-66 years) was conducted in Italy, Spain and Greece, followed up at three and six months, comparing a static with a dynamic, feedback-intensive platform. Results: Linear mixed models yielded an increase in FV consumption in both the dynamic and the static intervention arms. In men, outcome expectancies were positively related to follow-up FV intake. Dietary planning interacted with self-efficacy on behavioural outcomes. Conclusion: FV intake increased overall, and being a woman and involvement in planning facilitated behaviour change. Women seemed to be more engaged in the dynamic platform resulting in a higher amount of planning. Initial motivation, as indicated by outcome expectancies, seemed to be beneficial for men. Self-efficacious individuals benefitted from their engagement in planning, but self-efficacy did not compensate for failing to plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The randomized controlled trial examined factors that might be responsible for individual differences in physical activity change among men and women who participated in a lifestyle intervention. The main purpose of the analyses regarded the role of psychological mechanisms involving motivation, planning, self-monitoring, and habit strength.Design: A two-arm digital intervention was conducted in Italy, Spain, and Greece to improve physical activity levels, with follow-ups at 3 and 6 months after baseline assessment.Methods: Participants were 1,564 adults at baseline, n = 638 at 6-month follow-up. Linear mixed models examined the intervention effects, and a two-group longitudinal structural equation model explored which psychological constructs (motivation, planning, self-monitoring, habit strength) were associated with changes in physical activity.Results: In addition to an overall increase in self-reported activity, there were interactions between time and sex and between time and experimental groups, and a triple interaction between time, sex, and experimental groups, indicating that men reported an increase in activity independent of groups, whereas women in the active control group did not benefit from the intervention. Planning, self-monitoring, and habit strength mediated sequentially between initial motivation and follow-up physical activity.Conclusions: Although the intervention produced overall improvements in physical activity, the time-by-treatment interaction emerged only for women. The mechanism included a sequence leading from motivation via planning, self-monitoring, and habit strength towards physical activity. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Digital lifestyle interventions can be effective in terms of physical activity performance gains. Men are on average more physically active than women. Long-term adherence rates to digital interventions are usually low. What does this study add? Giving users of an online platform more interactive options did not make a difference. Women gained more than men from adaptive, dynamic online platform content. Individual characteristics (motivation, planning, self-monitoring, habit) were more important than online treatment features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The traditional Mediterranean diet includes high consumption of fruits, vegetables, olive oil, legumes, cereals and nuts, moderate to high intake of fish and dairy products, and low consumption of meat products. Intervention effects to improve adoption of this diet may vary in terms of individuals' motivational or volitional prerequisites. In the context of a three-country research collaboration, intervention effects on these psychological constructs for increasing adoption of the Mediterranean diet were examined.Design: An intervention was conducted to improve Mediterranean diet consumption with a two-month follow-up. Linear multiple-level models examined which psychological constructs (outcome expectancies, planning, action control and stage of change) were associated with changes in diet scores.Setting: Web-based intervention in Italy, Spain and Greece.Subjects: Adults (n 454; mean age 42·2 (sd 10·4) years, range 18-65 years; n 112 at follow-up).Results: Analyses yielded an overall increase in the Mediterranean diet scores. Moreover, there were interactions between time and all four psychological constructs on these changes. Participants with lower levels of baseline outcome expectancies, planning, action control and stage of change were found to show steeper slopes, thus greater behavioural adoption, than those who started out with higher levels.Conclusions: The intervention produced overall improvements in Mediterranean diet consumption, with outcome expectancies, planning, action control and stage of change operating as moderators, indicating that those with lower motivational or volitional prerequisites gained more from the online intervention. Individual differences in participants' readiness for change need to be taken into account to gauge who would benefit most from the given treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]