title: Predicting long-term weight loss maintenance in previously overweight women: a signal detection approach.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Examine psychological and behavioral predictors of 3-year weight loss maintenance in women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 154 women in a 1-year randomized controlled trial on weight management with a 2-year follow-up. Signal detection analyses identified behavioral and psychological variables that best predicted 5% and 10% weight loss at 3 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women with better body image were more likely to have lost ≥5% weight at 3 years (P < 0.001). Exercise intrinsic motivation had a partial compensatory effect, in that women with poor body image but higher motivation were more likely to maintain weight loss than women with poor body image and lower motivation (P < 0.001). Women with high exercise autonomous motivation were three times more likely to have lost ≥10% weight than were those with lower autonomous motivation (P < 0.001). Among women with lower autonomous motivation, perceiving fewer exercise barriers was somewhat compensatory: these women were more likely to maintain weight loss than women with lower autonomy but more perceived barriers (P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In overweight women, improving body image and increasing autonomous and intrinsic motivation for exercise likely promotes clinically significant long-term weight loss maintenance. Decreasing perceived exercise barriers is another promising intervention target.
authors: Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Human Performance (CIPER), Faculty of Human Kinetics, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors: Inês
authors: I
authors: Santos
authors: Jutta
authors: J
authors: Mata
authors: Marlene N
authors: MN
authors: Silva
authors: Luís B
authors: LB
authors: Sardinha
authors: Pedro J
authors: PJ
authors: Teixeira
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000502:physiology*; D061217:Weight Reduction Programs