Thesis
Clarifying the role of values in weight control: a pilot study of a values-based intervention to promote weight loss
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Dec 2019
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/78de-bf45
Abstract
More than 160 million American adults are overweight or obese. Existing weight loss interventions from self-help to gold standard behavioral treatments, while often effective, do not sufficiently maintain motivation to adhere to dietary goals in the face of powerful biological and environmental influences to consume highly palatable foods. Clarification and awareness of values, a staple of acceptance-based treatments drawn from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, are thought to enhance autonomous motivation to engage in behaviors consistent with one's personal life values (e.g., health) in the presence of countervailing forces (e.g., hunger, deprivation). However, the independent efficacy of values clarification and awareness in facilitating weight control has never been tested. This pilot study sought to investigate whether a series of analog weight loss workshops (based off the gold standard), infused with techniques to enhance clarity and momentary awareness of values, could produce meaningful improvements in values-based mechanistic processes (i.e., target engagement). Nineteen participants attended three group-based, values-infused workshops over three weeks. Results indicate that the values-based intervention was feasible, acceptable, and capable of producing potentially meaningful improvements in values clarity and values awareness. There was mixed evidence of improvement in constructs highly related to values targets. The intervention was modestly effective in facilitating weight loss, and mixed associations were observed between changes in values targets and related constructs over time. Taken together, results demonstrate preliminary proof of concept that an isolated, values-based treatment can act on some, but not all, theorized mechanisms of action. Further research with larger samples and more intensive interventions are needed to establish longer-term mechanistic effects, as well as the additive efficacy of the values component in producing weight loss.
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Details
- Title
- Clarifying the role of values in weight control
- Creators
- Diane H. Dallal - DU
- Contributors
- Evan M. Forman (Advisor) - Drexel University (1970-)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- 87 pages
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences (Psychology); College of Arts and Sciences; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 11391; 991014632321204721