Qualitative study of strategies for coping with temptation during weight loss.

The strategies were qualitatively examined for coping with temptation during a weight-loss program. Self-response questionnaires were distributed to 65 adults (22 males and 43 females) in October 2007, 6 months after they had participated in a weight-management program in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Each subject answered open-ended questions about the strategy for coping with temptation regarding weight control, and the answers were categorized by two researchers. The respondents provided 461 items which were assigned to 61 sub-categories in five categories. These categories were counter-conditioning (188 items), eating style (98 items), stimulus control (78 items), cognitive coping (70 items), and social support (27 items). Most coping strategies were similar to the process of change that constitutes the transtheoretical model (TTM). The results of this study suggest that cognitive coping strategies, which are presumed in TTM to be common during the early stage of behavior change, can also be employed during the action and maintenance stages, and that eating style, which is not included in the process of change, may be an important coping strategy for changing eating behavior.