TY  - JOUR
AU  - Jake-Schoffman, Danielle E
AU  - Waring, Molly E
AU  - DiVito, Joseph
AU  - Goetz, Jared M
AU  - Pan, Cindy
AU  - Pagoto, Sherry L
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/3/16
TI  - The Relationship Between How Participants Articulate Their Goals and Accomplishments and Weight Loss Outcomes: Secondary Analysis of a Pilot of a Web-Based Weight Loss Intervention
JO  - JMIR Mhealth Uhealth
SP  - e41275
VL  - 11
KW  - weight loss
KW  - social media
KW  - goal setting
KW  - web-based program
KW  - behavior change
KW  - habit formation
KW  - diabetes
KW  - Facebook
KW  - lifestyle
AB  - Background: In behavioral weight loss interventions, participants are asked to set weekly goals to support long-term habits that lead to weight loss. Although participants are asked to set and accomplish weekly goals, we do not know how often they do this and whether doing so is associated with weight loss. Web-based weight loss interventions allow for the analysis of participant engagement data, including how participants articulate their goals and accomplishments. Objective: Using engagement data from a web-based weight loss intervention, we examined whether participants articulating their goals and accomplishments in measurable and repeating terms were associated with greater weight loss. Methods: Adults with overweight or obesity received a 12-week Facebook-delivered weight loss intervention based on the Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Intervention. Participants replied to conversation threads that queried about their goals and accomplishments. Two independent coders classified participants’ posts that articulated goals or accomplishments as measurable or repeating. Crude and age-adjusted linear regression models were used to examine the relationship between the frequency of post type and percent weight loss. Results: Participants (N=53; n=48, 91% female; n=48, 91% non-Hispanic White) were on average 46.2 (SD 10.5) years old with a mean BMI of 32.4 (SD 4.8) kg/m2. Over 12 weeks, participants shared a median of 4 (IQR 1-8) posts that reported goals and 10 (IQR 4-24) posts that reported accomplishments. Most participants shared ≥1 post with a goal (n=43, 81%) and ≥1 post with an accomplishment (n=47, 89%). Each post reporting a goal was associated with 0.2% greater weight loss (95% CI −0.3% to 0.0%). Sharing ≥1 post with a repeating goal was associated with an average of 2.2% greater weight loss (95% CI −3.9% to −0.4%). Each post with a repeating goal was associated with an average of 0.5% greater weight loss (95% CI −1.0% to 0.0%). Sharing ≥1 post with measurable and repeating goals was associated with an average of 1.9% greater weight loss (95% CI −3.7% to −0.2%). Sharing each post with an accomplishment was associated with an average of 0.1% greater weight loss (95% CI −0.1% to 0.0%). Every post with an accomplishment that was repeating was associated with an average of 0.2% greater weight loss (95% CI −0.3% to 0.0%). Sharing other types of goals and accomplishments was not associated with weight loss. Conclusions: In a web-based weight loss intervention, stating goals in repeating or both measurable and repeating terms was associated with greater weight loss, but simply stating them in measurable terms was not. For accomplishments, only those articulated in repeating terms were associated with greater weight loss. Posts about one-time goals and accomplishments represent an opportunity to encourage planning for future behaviors. Future research should examine if stating goals and accomplishments in repeating terms signals habit formation. 
SN  - 2291-5222
UR  - https://mhealth.jmir.org/2023/1/e41275
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/41275
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36927569
DO  - 10.2196/41275
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/41275
ER  -