Mental contrasting is a self-regulation imagery strategy that involves imagining a desired future and mentally contrasting it with the present reality, which is assumed to prompt the individual to realise that action is required to achieve the desired future. Research has combined mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) (‘if-then’ plans), which is hypothesised to strengthen the effects. A systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of mental contrasting for improving health-related behaviours. A meta-analysis (N = 1528) using random effects modelling found a main effect of mental contrasting on health outcomes, adjusted Hedges’ g = 0.28 (SE = .07), 95% CI [0.13–0.43], p < .001 at up to four weeks, and an increased effect at up to three months (k = 5), g = 0.38 (SE = 0.6), CI [0.20–0.55], p < .001. The combination of mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII; k = 7) showed a similar effect, g = 0.28, CI [0.14–0.42], p < .001. Mental contrasting shows promise as a brief behaviour change strategy with a significant small to moderate-sized effect on changing health behaviour in the short-term. Analysis on a small subset of studies suggested that the addition of implementation intentions (MCII) did not further strengthen the effects of mental contrasting on health behaviours, although additional studies are needed.

精神对比是一种自我调节的成像策略，涉及想象一个理想的未来并将其与当前现实进行心理对比，这被假定为促使个人意识到实现理想的未来需要采取行动。研究已经将心理对比与实施意图（MCII）（“如果-那么”计划）结合在一起，据认为这可以增强效果。进行了系统的评估，以评估心理对比对改善健康相关行为的有效性。使用随机效应模型的荟萃分析（N = 1528）发现心理对比对健康结局有主要影响，调整后的Hedges's g  = 0.28（SE = .07），95％CI [0.13-0.43]，p 在长达4周的时间里<0.001，在长达三个月的时间里效果增强（k  = 5），g  = 0.38（SE = 0.6），CI [0.20-0.55]，p <  .001。精神对比与实施意图的结合（MCII；k  = 7）显示出相似的效果，g  = 0.28，CI [0.14-0.42]，p  <.001。精神对比显示出作为短期行为改变策略的希望，对短期内改变健康行为具有显着的中小影响。对一小部分研究的分析表明，尽管需要进行更多的研究，但增加实施意向（MCII）并不能进一步增强心理对比对健康行为的影响。