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. 2018 Nov;28(11):3724-3728.
doi: 10.1007/s11695-018-3490-7.

Causal Attributions for Obesity Among Patients Seeking Surgical Versus Behavioral/Pharmacological Weight Loss Treatment

Rebecca L Pearl  1   2 , Thomas A Wadden  3 , Kelly C Allison  3 , Ariana M Chao  3   4 , Naji Alamuddin  3   5 , Robert I Berkowitz  3   6 , Olivia Walsh  3 , Jena Shaw Tronieri  3
Affiliations

Causal Attributions for Obesity Among Patients Seeking Surgical Versus Behavioral/Pharmacological Weight Loss Treatment

Rebecca L Pearl et al. Obes Surg. 2018 Nov.

Abstract

Obesity is frequently attributed to causes such as laziness and lack of willpower and personal responsibility. The current study identified causal attributions for obesity among patients seeking bariatric surgery and compared them to those among patients seeking less invasive weight loss treatment (behavioral/pharmacological). The 16-item Causal Attributions for Obesity scale (CAO; rated 1-7) was administered to 102 patients seeking bariatric surgery (sample 1) and 178 patients seeking behavioral/pharmacological weight loss treatment (sample 2). Between-subjects analyses compared CAO ratings for the two samples. Results showed that behavioral factors were the highest-rated attributions in both samples. Sample 1 had higher ratings of biological and environmental factors than did sample 2. Overall, patients seeking bariatric surgery had a more complex conceptualization of obesity than did patients seeking behavioral/pharmacological treatment.

Trial registration: NCT02388568.

Keywords: Attributions; Obesity; Personal responsibility.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: RLP discloses serving as a consultant for Weight Watchers, as well as receiving grant support outside of the current work from Weight Watchers. TAW discloses serving on advisory boards for Novo Nordisk and Weight Watchers, as well as receiving grant support, on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania, from Eisai Co. during the conduct of this study. KCA discloses serving as a consultant for Weight Watchers and receiving grant support, on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania from Novo Nordisk. AMC discloses receiving grant support from Shire Pharmaceuticals, outside the current work. NA discloses serving as a consultant for Novo Nordisk. RIB discloses serving as a consultant to Eisai Co. JST discloses serving as a consultant for Novo Nordisk.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure: Author 1 discloses serving as a consultant for Weight Watchers, as well as receiving grant support outside of the current work from Weight Watchers. Author 2 discloses serving on advisory boards for Novo Nordisk and Weight Watchers, as well as receiving grant support, on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania, from Eisai Co during the conduct of this study. Author 3 discloses serving as a consultant for Weight Watchers and receiving grant support, on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania from Novo Nordisk. Author 4 discloses receiving grant support from Shire Pharmaceuticals, outside the current work. Author 5 discloses serving as a consultant for Novo Nordisk. Author 6 discloses serving as a consultant to Eisai Co. Author 8 discloses serving as a consultant for Novo Nordisk. Authors 7 has no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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