{"doi":"10.1093/tbm/ibaa038","title":"Implementation intentions for weight loss in college students with overweight and obesity: a proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial","abstract":"One in three college students have overweight or obesity and are in need of brief, simple weight loss interventions. Implementation intentions, a strategy that connects a goal-aligned behavior to a cue, facilitate goal attainment of health behaviors but have not been applied as a standalone treatment for weight loss. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of an implementation intention weight loss intervention in college students. In this three-arm, proof-of-concept, randomized controlled trial, college students with overweight/obesity (N = 95) were randomized to one of three conditions: an implementation intention group (IMP), an enhanced implementation intention group (IMP+) that included text message reminders and fluency training (i.e., training for speed and accuracy), and a control goal intention group (GOL) for 4 weeks. Participants completed anthropometric and self-report assessments pretreatment and posttreatment and experience-sampling assessments during the study to assess how implementation intentions contribute to behavior change. Across the sample, IMP and IMP+ groups reported significantly more goal-congruent behaviors than the GOL group. However, no between-condition differences emerged for weight and diet outcomes. Across conditions, students lost a statistically significant amount of weight, improved diet quality, and reduced caloric intake (ps < .05). Setting implementation intentions was associated with increased behaviors consistent with weight loss goals. Moreover, participants in all groups lost a statistically significant amount of weight. Incorporating implementation intentions into weight loss interventions, and testing the efficacy of this approach on weight loss over a longer duration, may be beneficial for college students with overweight/obesity.","journal":"Translational Behavioral Medicine","year":2020,"id":71516,"datarank":0.4335557636844247,"base_score":2.8903717578961645,"endowment":2.8903717578961645,"self_citation_contribution":0.4335557636844247,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.4335557636844247,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":17,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9541,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":263611,"name":"Katherine N. Balantekin","orcid":"0000-0002-6760-2714","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":238194,"name":"Andrea K. Graham","orcid":"0000-0002-9736-8906","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":378147,"name":"Michael Strube","orcid":"0000-0002-4731-8142","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":328341,"name":"Warren K. Bickel","orcid":"0000-0002-1048-7372","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":263620,"name":"Denise E. Wilfley","orcid":"0000-0002-3599-8689","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":378146,"name":"Jacqueline F. Hayes","orcid":"0000-0002-6241-1839","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":46,"raw_metadata":{"citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-18T21:44:25.469842Z","pmid":"32359068","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}