Charlotte Vinkers

Selfregulation people

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Education
My applied work examines the effectiveness of a self-regulation intervention in initiating and maintaining a healthier diet in an overweight sample (www.projectproactivecoping.nl). This intervention has been shown to be effective in improving self-regulatory competence in people with diabetes and asthma. A central aspect of the intervention is its focus on proactive skills: the ability to deal with future difficulties in the here and now, and to make effective plans in advance to meet desired goals.

My experimental work aims to identify factors that moderate the effectiveness of (coping) plans for healthy eating. For instance, I am interested in how the quality, content, or format of plans affect whether planning is a fruitful strategy to adopt healthier eating habits. Other research questions that intrigue me are: which cognitive or motivational factors can explain why some plans work, and others don't? How does one's (affective) state during planning influence the quality of plans, and their subsequent effectiveness? Which individual differences predict whether planning is an effective strategy to improve self-regulation?

Teaching
Supervision of bachelor's and master's theses

Charlotte Vinkers (1984) studied Psychology at the University of Amsterdam.
2003-2007      BSc, Clinical Psychology
2007-2009      MSc, Social Psychology (Research Master)
2009-               PhD candidate, Health Psychology

Research
Losing weight seems so easy: eat less (unhealthy) food and exercise more. The high prevalence of overweight and obesity, however, indicates that losing weight is a difficult endeavor. Although there are probably thousands of books telling people what to do in order to achieve a healthier lifestyle, it seems a more viable approach to give them guidance in how to do it, i.e., improve their self-regulatory competence. My research revolves around one strategy that people can use to improve self-regulation: planning. Specifically, I investigate planning in the context of food-related health goals in both applied and experimental settings.