Intervention Effectiveness for Self-Efficacy to Control Eating among Women with Obesity in the Atlanta Area

Behavioral obesity treatments are associated with early weight loss; however, participants typically begin to regain the weight within several months as their self-efficacy to control eating (SEce) often diminishes after they begin to better realize associated challenges. Therefore, authors of this article aimed to discern psychosocial predictors of such reductions. Women with obesity from the greater Atlanta region of the United States participated in community-based weight-management programs of cognitive-behavioral (n = 106) and educational (n = 54) bases. The overall sample significantly (p = .001) increased SEce from Month 3 to Month 6; changes in participants' body satisfaction, eating self-regulation, exercise self-efficacy, emotional eating, and dejection were significant (ps < .02) bivariate predictors of that change. There was no significant time × treatment type effect. Within multiple regression analyses, each of those correlates, except dejection, significantly contributed to the explained variance in SEce change (p < .001). Participants' change in SEce from baseline to Month 6 was a significant predictor of their six-, 12-, and 24-month weight changes (ps < .001). These findings suggest psychosocial targets for addressing decreases in SEce and subsequent regains in weight that can follow.