title: Stress management-augmented behavioral weight loss intervention for African American women: a pilot, randomized controlled trial.
abstract: The relationship between chronic stress and weight management efforts may be a concern for African American (AA) women, who have a high prevalence of obesity, high stress levels, and modest response to obesity treatment. This pilot study randomly assigned 44 overweight/obese AA women with moderate to high stress levels to either a 12-week adaptation of the Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Balance intervention augmented with stress management strategies (Lifestyle + Stress) or Lifestyle Alone. A trend toward greater percentage of baseline weight loss at 3-month data collection was observed in Lifestyle + Stress (-2.7 ± 3.6%) compared with Lifestyle Alone (-1.4 ± 2.3%; p = .17) and a greater reduction in salivary cortisol (Lifestyle + Stress: -0.2461 ± 0.3985 ng/mL; Lifestyle Alone: -0.0002 ± 0.6275 ng/mL; p = .20). These promising results suggest that augmenting a behavioral weight control intervention with stress management components may be beneficial for overweight/obese AA women with moderate to high stress levels and merit further investigation with an adequately powered trial.
authors.affiliation: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA. TLCox@uams.edu
authors.forename: Tiffany L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krukowski
authors.forename: Sharhonda J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Love
authors.forename: Kenya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eddings
authors.forename: Marisha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: DiCarlo
authors.forename: Jason Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: T Elaine
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Prewitt
authors.forename: Delia Smith
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: West
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011581:Psychological Tests; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy*; D015431:Weight Loss; D061217:Weight Reduction Programs / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone