Responses to hypothetical high risk situations: do they predict weight loss in a behavioral treatment program or the...

Before starting a behavioral weight control program and after 6 months of treatment, 93 participants were asked to listen to 4 scenarios describing typical high risk situations for dieters (family celebration, watching TV, tension at work, argument). The number of coping responses generated, latency of responses, and perceived risk of lapsing were assessed; participants also identified which situation would be most difficult for them. Telephone interviews were conducted during the weight loss program to assess situations surrounding actual dietary lapses. Participants who rated the negative affect situations as most difficult were more likely to lapse in situations involving negative affect; 87% of these participants lapsed in association with negative affect. Moreover, participants who generated coping responses to more of the situations subsequently lost more weight. Thus, baseline performance on a hypothetical high risk task predicts subsequent performances in a behavioral weight loss program.