title: Taking action to lose weight: toward an understanding of individual differences.
abstract: The purpose of the present study was to understand differences in obese/overweight individuals who do and do not seek ongoing external assistance for weight loss. Help-seeking was examined as a dichotomous and as a continuous variable. Measures of body mass index, comorbid medical conditions, socioeconomic status, psychological distress, disordered eating behavior, body image, and obesity-related knowledge were administered to a community sample of 120 overweight women (age: 22-65 y, BMI: 25-63 kg/m(2)). Fewer predictors of help-seeking were identified when measuring help-seeking as a dichotomy than when measuring it as a continuum. All predictors were from psychosocial domains, with obesity-related knowledge being the strongest, most consistent predictor. Help-seeking for weight control in a community sample of overweight and obese individuals appears to be motivated by psychological aspects of obesity, rather than obesity's physical or medical burden.
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1230, New York, NY 10029, USA. rachel.annunziato@mssm.edu
authors.forename: Rachel A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Annunziato
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Lowe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004038:Diet, Reducing / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D050177:Overweight; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015431:Weight Loss