Psychological Predictors of Weight Loss Based on Participants' Predispositions: Obesity Treatment Implications

Treatments for obesity focused on improving self-regulation, self-efficacy, and mood demonstrated promise for inducing maintained weight loss. However, they might be improved if tailored to subjects' psychological predispositions.

The study sample was of women (N = 139) with obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m²). After classification of the subjects as low self-regulation (n = 23), high negative mood (n = 16), high emotional eating (n = 24), low body satisfaction (n = 25), and no predisposition (n = 51), multiple regression models were fit.

Changes in self-regulation, self-efficacy, and mood over 3 months significantly predicted 6-month change in weight (R² = 0.17-0.50). Except for the negative mood grouping, changes in self-regulation contributed most strongly to the explained variances in weight loss.

Findings contributed to the limited research on tailoring obesity treatments to individual psychological characteristics. Regardless of characteristics, the value of increasing self-regulatory skills to address lifestyle barriers and improving mood through increased physical activity was indicated.