People with lower self-control tend to drink more, smoke more, and eat more unhealthy food. Low self-control might also influence the success of interventions that aim to change these behaviours.
We conducted a systematic review to assess whether individual differences in self-control influence the effectiveness of interventions to change alcohol, tobacco, and food consumption.
Our findings show that 22 studies (41%) did not report differences in intervention effectiveness by self-control, 18 (33%) reported interventions to be less effective in those with low self-control, and 14 (26%) reported interventions to be more effective in those with low self-control. This pattern of findings did not differ from chance.
So, whilst self-control often influenced intervention outcomes, there was no consistent pattern of effects.
Does self-control modify the impact of interventions to change alcohol, tobacco, and food consumption? A systematic review. Stautz, Zupan, Field, Marteau, 2018
