Addressing Emotional and Cognitive Factors in Behavioral Weight Loss Treatment

Behavioral weight loss, the current treatment of choice for moderate obesity, achieves impressive short term results, however, weight regain following treatment is a major problem. Over 50% of participants in behavioral weight loss programs report difficulty with internal antecedents to unhealthy weight control behaviors and this difficulty is associated with weight regain following treatment. Current treatment approaches do not adequately address these antecedents. The aim of this series of studies is to develop, implement, and evaluate a behavioral weight loss program modified to provide participants with skills to deal effectively with affective and cognitive difficulties. The study targets men and women with BMI of 27-40 who self-report difficulty with emotional and/or cognitive antecedents to unhealthy weight control behaviors. The study is an uncontrolled pilot study in 20 participants to initially assess acceptability and efficacy of the innovative treatment. The long-term goal of this research is to improve the weight loss maintenance outcomes of behavioral weight loss programs by addressing affective and cognitive antecedents to unhealthy weight control behaviors.