This K23 award will allow Dr. Misty Hawkins, a clinical psychologist with expertise in behavioral medicine and obesity, to further develop into an independent investigator proficient in physiological, neuropsychological, and self-regulatory research methods and interventions that will allow her to study novel mechanisms of and treatments for obesity maintenance. She has a career interest in intervening on the neuropsychological factors related to obesity. Her research goal is to identify novel cognitive and self-regulatory mechanisms of obesity in this pilot trial which can then be targeted in larger RCTs to reduce obesity development or to maintain weight loss. Obesity continues to be a global epidemic, yet successful interventions for obesity are rare, with 80% of individuals in treatment programs being unsuccessful at achieving long-term weight loss. The training and research activities in this K23 application will allow her to examine the complexities of physiological dysregulation, cognitive deficits, and self-regulatory failure in an obesity treatmen study. The application proposes an intensive, 5-year program of mentored research and formal training activities to enhance Dr. Hawkins' skills and experience in: 1) basic research on and assessment of cognitive function; (2) assessment of obesity-related physiological changes; (3) research with patient populations; (4) advanced assessment of self-regulation (SR); and (5) the conduct of randomized clinical trials and advanced statistics. In the long term, Dr. Hawkins will apply these translational research skills to study targeted cognitive and self-regulation interventions as potentially effective treatments for persons with obesity who may exhibit cognitive deficits or chronic self-regulatory failure. The research component of this career development award is a clinical trial examining the impact of two different weight loss treatments on physiological markers, cognition, self- regulation, and health behaviors in 64 obese persons compared to 32 no-treatment controls.
The specific aims are to: 1) Confirm that baseline obesity-related physiological dysregulation is linked to cognitive deficits, poorer self-regulation and obesogenic behaviors, 2) Demonstrate that the two treatment groups have greater improvements in biomarkers, cognition, SR, and obesogenic behaviors, less weight gain, and greater weight loss, and 3) Evaluate whether the acceptance-based treatment (ABT) group has greater improvements in biomarkers, cognition, SR, and obesogenic behaviors, less weight gain, and greater weight loss than the standard behavioral treatment group (SBT) from pre- to post-treatment and 1-year follow-up. Kent State University and its research partner Case Western Reserve University provide exceptional environments for Dr. Hawkins to gain the skills needed to achieve her goals. The training component uses academic resources including the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Psychology, and the Clinical Research Scholar Program. Dr. Hawkins' mentors are highly regarded scientists in the areas of obesity, neuropsychology, psychophysiology, and patient-oriented research.
Obesity is a global epidemic; however, effective treatments are rare. This study will be the first clinical trial to examine the impact of two different weightloss interventions versus no-treatment on novel mechanisms that promote obesity and impede its successful treatment, including cognitive function and self-regulatory factors. Our results will provide important data about how impaired cognitive function and/or self-regulation promote obesity and how different weight loss treatments may differentially impact these factors; this information will be used to identify promising cognitive and self-regulatory treatment targets for preventing further obesity development and for maintaining weight loss.
| Hawkins, Misty A W; Keirns, Natalie G; Helms, Zachary (2018) Carbohydrates and cognitive function. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 21:302-307 |
| Hawkins, M A W; Colaizzi, Janna; Gunstad, John et al. (2018) Cognitive and Self-regulatory Mechanisms of Obesity Study (COSMOS): Study protocol for a randomized controlled weight loss trial examining change in biomarkers, cognition, and self-regulation across two behavioral treatments. Contemp Clin Trials 66:20-27 |
