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Not so fast: The impact of impulsivity on weight loss varies by treatment type
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Not so fast: The impact of impulsivity on weight loss varies by treatment type

Stephanie M Manasse, Daniel Flack, Cara Dochat, Fengqing Zhang, Meghan L Butryn and Evan M Forman
Appetite, v 113, pp 193-199
01 Jun 2017
PMID: 28257940
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.02.042View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Impulsive Behavior Obesity - psychology Humans Middle Aged Male Treatment Outcome Weight Loss Obesity - therapy Adult Female Delay Discounting Behavior Therapy - methods Inhibition (Psychology)
Behavioral weight loss (BWL) treatments result in suboptimal weight losses for many individuals. Impulsivity appears to be a maintenance factor of obesity, yet few studies have examined impulsivity as a predictor of outcomes from BWL. We examined specific facets of impulsivity (inhibitory control and delay discounting) as moderators of outcome in BWL. Overweight adults (n = 190) were randomized to standard behavioral treatment (SBT) or acceptance-based behavioral treatment (ABT). We hypothesized that impulsivity would be inversely associated with weight loss, and that the association between impulsivity and outcome would be attenuated in the ABT condition. Poorer general inhibitory control predicted lower percent weight lost at 12 months across conditions at the trend level (b = -0.003, p = 0.06). The negative impact of low inhibitory control on weight loss was attenuated by assignment to ABT versus SBT (b = 0.004, p = 0.03). Treatment condition, at trend level, also moderated the impact of delay discounting (b = -0.011, p = .098) and food-specific inhibitory control (b = 0.003, p = 0.06) on percent weight loss such that those with greater impulsivity benefitted most from ABT. Results reveal a potential pattern that impulsivity reduces benefit derived from SBT but not ABT. Further research on the moderating effect of impulsivity is necessary to inform the development of targeted treatments for clinically meaningful subtypes of patients.

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Web of Science research areas
Behavioral Sciences
Nutrition & Dietetics
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