title: Participation as a leader in immersion weight loss treatment may benefit, not harm, young adult staff members.
abstract: Despite the success of weight-management programmes, some researchers caution that participation in an aggressive approach to weight management could promote the development of eating pathology. The current study evaluated the risks and benefits for young adults of serving as staff members in an immersion treatment of adolescent obesity over the course of a summer. Participants included weight loss staff members (n = 108) along with a comparison group of young adults with similar demographic characteristics (n = 136). Participants completed assessments of eating disorder and obesity risk at three time points: the beginning of the summer, the end of the summer and a 6-week follow-up. Weight loss leadership participants who were initially overweight lost weight over the course of the summer, but those at healthy weights maintained their weight. Comparison participants also maintained their weight during the summer. Weight loss staff members also increased dietary restraint over the summer, and increases in dietary restraint appeared to facilitate appropriate weight reduction. Participation as a leader in an immersion weight loss programme seemed to benefit, not harm, young adults; this suggests potential advantages for using weight controlling interventions in a wide range of individuals, including as an obesity prevention strategy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University at Albany - State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA.|Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schaumberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University at Albany - State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kirschenbaum
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University at Albany - State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Earleywine
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004038:Diet, Reducing / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002149:Energy Intake; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000628:therapy; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015430:Weight Gain; D061217:Weight Reduction Programs / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Eating disorders; obesity; prevention; weight management