Psychological Mechanism of Weight-Loss among Chinese Female College Students

Objectives: Given the high pressure of weight-loss face by Chinese female college students and the lack of studies on the psychological mechanism of the weight-loss behaviors of this particular group, the present study investigated the interrelationships among the planning, self-regulation, and volitional self-efficacy, which were identified as the most significant three factors influencing the weight-loss of this population.Methods: Five hundred (n=500) female college students were recruited from three colleges in China. The collected data include participants’ planning, self-regulation, volitional self-efficacy, and weight-loss result. Wen, Zhang, Hou, & Liu’s (2004) three-step procedure was adopted to test the mediating effects of self-regulation and volitional self-efficacy, respectively, between planning and weight-loss result.Results: The mediating effects of self-regulation and volitional self-efficacy were confirmed. Based upon those, a recursive model was proposed to show a joint impact from the interrelated planning, self-regulation, and volitional self-efficacy to weight-loss result.Discussion: This study gained an in-depth understanding of both direct and indirect influences between planning to weight-loss. The recursive model sheds light on the potential promoting effect of the planning to weight-loss result through an enhanced self-regulation and volitional self-efficacy. The found psychological mechanism of Chinese female college students’ weight-loss behaviors pave the road for the studies of intervention.