ArticleHealth psychology and behavioral medicine2017
Secondary data analysis from a randomized trial examining the effects of small financial incentives on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for weight loss.
Article in Health psychology and behavioral medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Can incentives improve antipsychotic adherence in major mental illness? A mixed-methods systematic review.BMJ open · 2022Pooled it
- Results from "Developing Real Incentives and Volition for Exercise" (DRIVE): A pilot randomized controlled trial for promoting physical activity in African American women.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2022Trial
- Study protocol for Log2Lose: A randomized controlled trial to evaluate financial incentives for dietary self-monitoring and interim weight loss in adults with obesity.Contemporary clinical trials · 2025Article
- Issues surrounding incentives and penalties for COVID-19 vaccination: The Israeli experience.Preventive medicine · 2021Article
- Behavioral weight loss in emerging adults: Design and rationale for the Richmond Emerging Adults Choosing Health (REACH) randomized clinical trial.Contemporary clinical trials · 2021Article
- Article
- Protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a technology-assisted health coaching intervention for weight management in primary care: The GEM (goals for eating and moving) study.Contemporary clinical trials · 2019Article
- Article
- The Transition into Young Adulthood: a Critical Period for Weight Control.Current diabetes reports · 2017Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo examine whether (a) an obesity treatment involving financial incentives yields higher levels of extrinsic motivation for weight management compared to an identical intervention without incentives, (b) extrinsic motivation for weight management mediates, or accounts for, the difference in weight loss outcomes between the two interventions, and (c) there is any evidence that financial incentives and associated extrinsic motivation "crowd out" intrinsic motivation for weight control.
methodsParticipants (N=153, 80.4% Female; BMI = 33.2 ± 5.9) were randomly assigned to a 3-month Web-based behavioral weight loss program (WBWL) or the same program plus small financial incentives delivered consistent with behavioral economics and behavior change theories (WBWL+$). Weight was objectively assessed at baseline, post-treatment (month 3), and after a 9-month no-treatment follow-up phase (month 12). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for weight management were assessed at months 3 and 12 using a modified version of the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire, with questions added to specifically target extrinsic motivation related to incentives.
resultsCompared to WBWL alone, WBWL+$ had better weight loss and higher levels of both extrinsic
conclusionsModest financial incentives delivered consistent with behavioral economics and behavior change theories do not undermine intrinsic motivation for weight management during obesity treatment; in fact, they yield higher levels of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Additional research is needed to better understand the mechanisms by which incentives improve outcomes in health behavior change interventions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.