Fig. 3

Expectations of our analyses. Panel A illustrates our expectations regarding the frequency and automaticity (as assessed with the self-reported behavioral automaticity index; SRBAI), for the control group (grey) and metacognitive strategy group (yellow) separately. Panel B illustrates the proposed mechanisms through which the metacognitive self-help intervention (MCSI) will exert a positive effect on automaticity, with the regularity of the target behavior as mediator (standard deviation (SD) of the time of the performance of the target behavior). Panel C shows some proposed mechanisms through which the MCSI will exert favorable effects on mental well-being (MWB) and quality of life (QoL), with the total (*) behavioral frequency (FREQ) and SRBAI difference scores of the test phase being included as potential mediators. In a second step, depression (DEP), loneliness (LONE) and apathy (APA) are also included as outcome variables, and self-efficacy (SEF), the inclination to engage in if–then planning (ITPS), self-management ability (SMA), lifestyle satisfaction (LSQ) and FREQ and SRBAI of the training phase as potential mediators. Panel D depicts some proposed moderation effects of the MCSI’s effects on total behavioral frequency and SRBAI difference scores (training and test), as well as MWB, QoL, SEF, ITPS, SMA and LSQ difference scores and DEP, LONE, APA post-study scores. pre-training DEP, LONE and APA, as well as working memory scores (as assessed with the operation-span task) are included as potential moderators. In panel B, C and D, the direction of the anticipated effect is indicated with a + (positive) or – (negative) sign. The control group will be coded as 0 and the strategy group will be coded as 1. The numbers in parentheses indicate whether the variable was derived from the training (1) or test (2) phase, or both