Obesity has become so prevalent it is now considered a national and global epidemic. The limitations of pharmacologic, surgical and environmental interventions point to the critical need for behavioral programs. However, standard behavioral treatments are only minimally effective in the long term, with most participants eventually gaining back their lost weight. Weight regain can be traced to participants' difficulty following recommended diet and physical activity prescriptions, which appears tied to immutable biological drives and internal (e.g., sadness, anxiety, cravings) and external (e.g., presence of delicious foods and labor- saving devices) cues. In our lab we have found that the ability to resist these cues is bolstered by interventions that increase distress tolerance (e.g., tolerance of negative effect, food cravings), present-moment awareness of internal states and how these may be affecting behavior (i.e., metacognitive awareness), and clarity about one's personal values. In particular, we have shown that acceptance-based behavioral interventions, which incorporate these strategies, have promise for weight control. Our NIH-funded pilot study demonstrated an especially strong effect of acceptance-based strategies on weight loss for participants who reported higher levels of depression, psychological responsivity to food, and internally and externally-cued eating. The primary goal of the proposed project is to evaluate the longer-term efficacy of ABT in relation to gold standard behavioral treatment for obesity. A secondary goal is to test hypothesized mechanisms of action of the two treatments, both during active intervention and during the post-treatment weight loss maintenance phase. Building on our recent work using lab-based behavioral measures and repeatedly-administered, ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to better understand the challenges of adopting and maintaining healthful behavior choices, we will use both these measurement strategies to most accurately capture causal pathways to in-the-moment eating and physical activity lapses. EMA offers considerable advantages over retrospective self-reports which are subject to inaccuracies and biases. We also aim to evaluate moderation hypotheses stating that the superiority of ABT will be especially pronounced for those with greater mood disturbance, sensitivity to the food environment, and internal and external disinhibited eating.
Our aims work towards longer-range goals of using evidence to maximize the most effective components of interventions, matching patients to treatment type, and developing real-time interventions aimed at correcting problematic eating and physical activity decisions as they occur naturalistically. Accordingly, we will randomly assign 200 overweight participants to 24 sessions of ABT or SBT, delivered over one year. All participants will be followed until 36 months post-baseline. EMA and lab-based behavioral assessments will allow more valid measurement of moderating and mediating pathways including the relationship between internal states and their impact on behavior, and how these associations are affected by treatment.

Public Health Relevance

Obesity is a leading cause of death in the U.S, and efforts to treat it are a national health priority. The primary goal of the proposed project is to evaluate th efficacy of an innovative weight loss intervention. This intervention will help participants learn skills for changing their diet and exercise behaviors in sustainable ways.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
4R01DK095069-05
Application #
9098696
Study Section
Psychosocial Risk and Disease Prevention Study Section (PRDP)
Program Officer
Kuczmarski, Robert J
Project Start
2012-07-01
Project End
2017-06-30
Budget Start
2016-07-01
Budget End
2017-06-30
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Drexel University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
002604817
City
Philadelphia
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
19102
Manasse, Stephanie M; Schumacher, Leah M; Goldstein, Stephanie P et al. (2018) Are individuals with loss-of-control eating more prone to dietary lapse in behavioural weight loss treatment? An ecological momentary assessment study. Eur Eat Disord Rev 26:259-264
Butryn, Meghan L; Call, Christine C; Schumacher, Leah M et al. (2018) Time to Peak Weight Loss During Extended Behavioral Treatment. Obesity (Silver Spring) 26:658-664
Schumacher, Leah M; Martin, Gerald J; Goldstein, Stephanie P et al. (2018) Ecological momentary assessment of self-attitudes in response to dietary lapses. Health Psychol 37:148-152
Bond, Dale S; Thomas, J Graham; Lipton, Richard B et al. (2018) Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention for Migraine: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Obesity (Silver Spring) 26:81-87
Manasse, Stephanie M; Flack, Daniel; Dochat, Cara et al. (2017) Not so fast: The impact of impulsivity on weight loss varies by treatment type. Appetite 113:193-199
Wyckoff, Emily P; Evans, Brittney C; Manasse, Stephanie M et al. (2017) Executive functioning and dietary intake: Neurocognitive correlates of fruit, vegetable, and saturated fat intake in adults with obesity. Appetite 111:79-85
Forman, Evan M; Schumacher, Leah M; Crosby, Ross et al. (2017) Ecological Momentary Assessment of Dietary Lapses Across Behavioral Weight Loss Treatment: Characteristics, Predictors, and Relationships with Weight Change. Ann Behav Med 51:741-753
Forman, Evan M; Butryn, Meghan L; Manasse, Stephanie M et al. (2016) Acceptance-based versus standard behavioral treatment for obesity: Results from the mind your health randomized controlled trial. Obesity (Silver Spring) 24:2050-6
Manasse, Stephanie M; Goldstein, Stephanie P; Wyckoff, Emily et al. (2016) Slowing down and taking a second look: Inhibitory deficits associated with binge eating are not food-specific. Appetite 96:555-559
Manasse, Stephanie M; Espel, Hallie M; Forman, Evan M et al. (2015) The independent and interacting effects of hedonic hunger and executive function on binge eating. Appetite 89:16-21

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