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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2023 Dec;19(8):525-534.
doi: 10.1089/chi.2022.0116. Epub 2022 Nov 17.

Wellness Achieved Through Changing Habits: A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Acceptance-Based Intervention for Adolescent Girls With Overweight or Obesity

Faith A Newsome  1 , Michelle I Cardel  1   2   3 , Xiaofei Chi  1 , Alexandra M Lee  1   2 , Darci Miller  1 , Sarada Menon  1 , David M Janicke  4 , Matthew J Gurka  1 , Meghan L Butryn  5   6 , Stephanie Manasse  6
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Randomized Controlled Trial

Wellness Achieved Through Changing Habits: A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Acceptance-Based Intervention for Adolescent Girls With Overweight or Obesity

Faith A Newsome et al. Child Obes. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Obesity prevalence among adolescent girls continues to rise. Acceptance-based therapy (ABT) is effective for weight loss in adults and feasible and acceptable for weight loss among adolescents. This pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) assessed effectiveness of an adolescent-tailored ABT intervention on decreasing weight-related outcomes and improving psychological outcomes compared with enhanced care. Methods: In this 6-month, two-arm pilot RCT, participants were randomized to the ABT intervention or to enhanced care. The ABT intervention condition attended 15 virtual, 90-minute group sessions. The enhanced care comparison received 15 healthy lifestyle handouts and virtually met twice with a registered dietitian. The primary outcome assessed was change in BMI expressed as a percentage of the 95th percentile (%BMIp95). Results: Participants included 40 girls (ages 14-19) assigned to ABT (n = 20) or enhanced care (n = 20). A decrease in %BMIp95 was observed within the ABT intervention [d = -0.19, 95% confidence interval, CI: (-0.36 to -0.02)], however, not within the enhanced care comparison [d = -0.01, 95% CI: (-0.09 to 0.07)]. The ABT group showed slight changes in psychological flexibility [d = -0.34, 95% CI: (-0.62 to -0.06)] over enhanced care [d = -0.11, 95% CI: (-0.58 to 0.37)]. There was no significant intervention effect noted between groups. Conclusion: In this pilot RCT, the ABT intervention was as effective as enhanced care for weight loss. However, previous ABT studies occurred in person, and this study was conducted virtually due to COVID-19. Thus, future research investigating the potential effectiveness of ABT in-person among adolescents and optimization of virtual interventions is needed.

Keywords: behavioral intervention; educational program; evidence-based intervention; lifestyle intervention; obesity treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

F.A.N. reports personal fees from Novo Nordisk, outside the submitted work. M.I.C. reports grants from NIH NHLBI, grants from WellCare Health Plans, Inc., during the conduct of the study; personal fees and income from WW International, Inc., personal fees for consulting from Amazon, consulting with NovoNordisk where personal fees were not accepted, outside the submitted work. All other authors have no competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
(A) Changes in physiological outcomes; (B) Changes in psychosocial outcomes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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