Behavioral component
eating behaviors, eating behavior, dietary behavior
The behavioral support portion of each telephone counseling session centered on promoting self-management strategies tailored to rural populations using theory-informed and contemporary principles of the cultural-tailoring approach [The objective of the behavioral component was to promote motivation, self-efficacy and social support for adopting lifestyle modifications, while gradually facilitating participants’ transition towards successful independent self-regulation of a healthy diet and physical activity. The behavioral component focused on the acquisition and practice of self-regulatory skills, in conjunction with a continuous problem-solving model of behavior change, to empower participants to exert greater control over their behavior, cognition, and environment. The behavioral component was designed to a) increase health knowledge of the benefits of physical activity and dietary modifications; b) enhance self-efficacy and positive outcome expectancies through the promotion of a series of successful experiences in changing exercise and eating behavior; and c) improve self-regulation of exercise and eating behaviors through the use of goal-setting, self-monitoring, stimulus control, cognitive restructuring, and barrier problem-solving strategies. The efficacy of this approach for promoting the adoption and maintenance to exercise and dietary behavior change has been demonstrated in prior randomized controlled trials [