Well-being and morbid obesity in women: a controlled therapy evaluation

Morbidly obese individuals are unlikely to reach and maintain normative weights. Thus, interventions aimed at alleviating corollary problems, independent of attempts at weight loss, are appropriate. A cognitive group treatment program (CT) was developed which incorporated a nondieting approach, regular exercise, and use of alternative coping skills. Weight loss per se was not a focus of the intervention. The purpose of the current work was to evaluate this program in a controlled, comparative treatment outcome study.

Sixty-two obese women with a history of treatment failures were randomly assigned to the CT program, a behavior therapy weight loss program (BT), or a wait-list control group.

For CT participants, depression, anxiety, and eating-related psychopathology decreased significantly over the course of treatment while perceptions of self-control increased; BT and control subjects showed no significant changes in these variables. Women in both active treatment groups lost significant amounts of weight, while members of the control group showed a nonsignificant increase in weight. At 6-month follow-up, treatment benefits were maintained.

Findings suggest that interventions not directly aimed at weight loss can enhance psychological well-being and thus may be appropriate for some obese women.