The Effectiveness of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness Group Intervention for Enhancing the Psychological and Physical Well-Being of Adults with Overweight or Obesity Seeking Treatment: The Mind&Life Randomized Control Trial Study Protocol

Abstract

Although several interventions that target obesity have been examined, the success of these interventions in generating and maintaining positive results has yet to be confirmed. This study protocol therefore presents a trial aimed at analyzing the effectiveness of a well-being-centered acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)- and mindfulness-based group intervention following the valued-based healthy living (VHL) approach (Mind&Life intervention) for individuals experiencing overweight-related distress. A randomized controlled trial with two parallel groups will be conducted in 110 adults attending primary care units with overweight or obesity. Participants will be randomly allocated to one of the two study conditions. Interventions will either be the treatment as usual (TAU) or the Mind&Life intervention-an ACT- and mindfulness-based intervention-plus the TAU intervention. Quality of life, weight self-stigma, general health status, eating habits, physical activity, eating behavior, anthropometric, body composition, cardiovascular, and physiological variables, as well as process variables, will be examined at baseline, posttreatment, 6-month follow-up, and 1-year follow-up. This trial aims to offer a novel psychological approach for addressing the psychological and physical impairments suffered by people with overweight or obesity in the current environment. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03718728.

Keywords: acceptance and commitment therapy; mindfulness; obesity; overweight; well-being.

Figure 1

SPIRIT flow diagram: Schedule of events for the Mind&Life study.