Psychology Commons^™

Circadian Misalignment And Childhood Obesity: An Unexplored Target For Intervention And Treatment, Mason Pilling

Student Works

Childhood obesity is a pandemic affecting almost 40 million individuals aged 5-18 globally. Many current interventions are relatively successful at treating childhood obesity, yet the rate of childhood obesity continues to increase from year to year, and current intervention methods are struggling to keep up. Mounting evidence suggests that sleep may be a crucial mechanism for understanding and treating obesity, yet sleep still remains a relatively unexplored target for intervention. Circadian misalignment, a measure of the difference between the body’s preferred sleep timing and actual bed and wake times, has been almost completely ignored in the literature, despite preliminary findings …

The Importance Of Quality Of Life In Weight Loss Programs, Brooke Taylor

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The obesity epidemic has plagued the United States for over 50 years, but there is still much education and research that needs to be done to understand weight loss, specifically the relationship between weight loss and quality of life. This paper considers this relationship from three angles: first, by considering the different types of weight loss treatment, including traditional behavioral weight loss, surgery, acceptance-based programs, and internet weight-loss interventions; second, by considering the impact of weight loss on quality of life through the lens of specific demographics, specifically female, child, and elderly populations; and finally, by considering the impact of …

Guilt By Obesity: A Closer Look At Obesity Stigmas, Loriana Goulding

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Obesity stigmas have led to an increased interest in the body-positivity movement in recent years. However, despite the decreasing discrimination and shaming of the obese, many people still consciously and unconsciously adhere to obesity stigmas and myths. These false beliefs are harmful not only to obese individuals but also to society, given that over 1/3 of the U.S. adult population is now obese (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). These stigmas can be especially harmful to obese individuals who are victims of wrongdoings and to obese individuals who are accused of a wrongdoing (Yamawaki, Riley, Rasmussen, & Cook, 2018). …

Successful Weight Loss Initiation And Maintenance Among Adolescents With Overweight And Obesity: Does Age Matter?, Diana Rancourt, Chad D. Jensen, Kara Mcrae Duraccio, E. Whitney Evans, Rena R. Wing, Elissa Jelalian

Faculty Publications

Background—Treatments for adolescents with overweight/obesity demonstrate mixed success, which may be due to a lack of consideration for developmental changes during this period. Potential developmental differences in weight loss motivations, weight maintenance behaviors, and the role of parents in these efforts were examined in a sample of successful adolescent weight losers.

Methods—Participants enrolled in the Adolescent Weight Control Registry (n = 49) self-reported demographic information and weight history, reasons for weight loss and weight control, weight loss approach and weight maintenance strategies, and perceived parental involvement with weight loss. Associations between age at weight loss initiation and the aforementioned factors …

The Impact Of Sleep Restriction On Food-Related Inhibitory Control And Food Reward In Adolescents: Physical Activity And Weight Status As Potential Moderators, Kara Mcrae Duraccio

Theses and Dissertations

The present study aimed to evaluate associations between sleep duration and food-related inhibitory control and food reward in adolescents aged 12-18. Potential moderating effects of physical activity and weight status on the association between sleep, inhibitory control, and food reward were also examined. To evaluate these associations, the study employed a two-phase crossover design in which participants spent either 5 hours per night (restricted sleep) or 9 hours per night (habitual sleep) in bed for 5 nights. Participants completed a food-related inhibitory control task and a questionnaire assessing for food reward on the 6th day of each study phase. Repeated …

Efficacy Of Weight Loss Intervention Can Be Predicted Based On Early Alterations Of Fmri Food Cue Reactivity In The Striatum, Petra Hermann, Viktor Gál, István Kóbor, C. Brock Kirwan, Peter Kovacs, Tama Kitkas, Zsuzsanna Lengyel, Eszter Balint, Balázs Varga, Csongor Cseko, Zoltan Vidnyanszky

Faculty Publications

Increased fMRI food cue reactivity in obesity, i.e. higher responses to high- vs. low-calorie food images, is a promising marker of the dysregulated brain reward system underlying enhanced susceptibility to obesogenic environmental cues. Recently, it has also been shown that weight loss interventions might affect fMRI food cue reactivity and that there is a close association between the alteration of cue reactivity and the outcome of the intervention. Here we tested whether fMRI food cue reactivity could be used as a marker of diet-induced early changes of neural processing in the striatum that are predictive of the outcome of the …

An Evaluation Of A Smartphone–Assisted Behavioral Weight Control Intervention For Adolescents: Pilot Study, Chad D. Jensen, Kristina M. Duncombe, Mark A. Lott, Sanita L. Hunsaker, Kara Mcrae Duraccio, Susan J. Woolford

Faculty Publications

Background: The efficacy of adolescent weight control treatments is modest, and effective treatments are costly and are not widely available. Smartphones may be an effective method for delivering critical components of behavioral weight control treatment including behavioral self-monitoring.

Objective: To examine the efficacy and acceptability of a smartphone assisted adolescent behavioral weight control intervention.

Methods: A total of 16 overweight or obese adolescents (mean age=14.29 years, standard deviation=1.12) received 12 weeks of combined treatment that consisted of weekly in-person group behavioral weight control treatment sessions plus smartphone self-monitoring and daily text messaging. Subsequently they received 12 weeks of electronic-only intervention, …