This research will explore underlying cognitions that may influence eating behavior and contribute to the current obesity epidemic. It is hoped that this research will enable us to develop effective interventions to prevent overweight and obesity. The study will be conducted in four phases. In phase one, overweight subjects (BMI>25) aged 18-65 will be recruited from the Nashville area to share their attitudes, beliefs, and thoughts about loss of control over eating. They will be divided into groups of approximately thirteen members and each group discussion will be led by a research assistant trained to use a protocol. All groups will be video and audio taped and participants will be asked to complete a set of questionnaires about eating behavior. Research assistants will then use the transcripts to group comments into common themes;the common themes will be used to develop a questionnaire. In phase two, a cognitively based computer program will be used to assess the prominence of these cognitions in our sample and to explore subtle differences in cognitions that could prove useful for distinguishing between the groups. In phase three, the questionnaire and cognitive computer task will be administered to an additional sample of 200 participants. Their responses will be used to fine tune the questionnaire and computer program. Finally, an additional 400 participants will complete the revised versions of the questionnaire and computer program.
