Behaviour Research and Therapy 45 (2007) 2372–2386 A comparison of acceptance- and control-based strategies for coping with food cravings: An analog study Evan M. Forman a,Ã , Kimberly L. Hoffman a , Kathleen B. McGrath a , James D. Herbert a , Lynn L. Brandsma b , Michael R. Lowe a a Department of Psychology, Drexel University, 245 N. 15th Street, MS 515, Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA b Department of Psychology, Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, PA, USA Received 22 December 2006; received in revised form 30 March 2007; accepted 10 April 2007 Abstract The present study utilized an analog paradigm to investigate the effectiveness of two strategies for coping with food cravings, which was theorized to be critical to the maintenance of weight loss. Ninety-eight undergraduate students were given transparent boxes of chocolate Hershey’s Kisses and instructed to keep the chocolates with them, but not to eat them, for 48 h. Before receiving the Kisses, participants were randomized to receive either (a) no intervention, (b) instruction in control-based coping strategies such as distraction and cognitive restructuring, or (c) instruction in acceptance-based strategies such as experiential acceptance and defusion techniques. Measures included the Power of Food Scale (PFS; a measure of psychological sensitivity to the food environment), self-report ratings of chocolate cravings and surreptitiously recorded chocolate consumption. Results suggested that the effect of the intervention depended on baseline PFS levels, such that acceptance-based strategies were associated with better outcomes (cravings, consumption) among those reporting the highest susceptibility to the presence of food, but greater cravings among those who scored lowest on the PFS. It was observed that craving self-report measures predicted chocolate consumption, and baseline PFS levels predicted both cravings and consumption. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for weight loss maintenance strategies. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Acceptance; Acceptance and commitment therapy; Cognitive therapy; Obesity; Weight loss; Weight control; Weight maintenance; Food cravings Introduction According to the World Health Organization (WHO) obesity has become a global epidemic, with numbers reaching more than one billion individuals worldwide (World Health Organization, 2006). Both Europe and the United States have especially high (and rising) levels of obesity; for instance, currently, 64% of the adult population in the United States is either overweight or obese (Hedley et al., 2004; World Health Organization, 2006). Given the significance and prevalence of the problem, considerable resources have been devoted to ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/brat 0005-7967/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2007.04.004 Ã Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 215 762 4021; fax: +1 215 762 8706. E-mail address: evan.forman@drexel.edu (E.M. Forman).