Women’s use and acceptability of guided imagery in a multi-behavior intervention focused on psychological stress, food cravings, and exercise

Abstract

Abstract Objectives The purpose of this short report was to describe the experiences of 29 overweight or obese women (M age = 44) who completed a multi-behavior guided imagery intervention that simultaneously targeted psychological stress, food cravings, and physical activity behavior. Methods Participants created tailored guided imagery scripts with health coaches for daily use as part of the 5 week randomized controlled wait-list trial. Post-intervention semi-structured interviews were transcribed verbatim and content analyzed for common conceptual themes. Results The results showed that 83% of the participants stated they would continue using guided imagery, <7% would not, while the remaining 10% were unsure about future usage. The perceived usefulness varied across the three behaviors. Conclusions Guided imagery has the potential to simultaneously address multiple health behaviors. Our results shed light on how tailored guided imagery scripts can be used to help overweight and obese women manage or lose body weight.