Excess weight gain prevention in adolescents: Three-year outcome following a randomized controlled trial.
Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) prevents weight gain in adults with obesity and binge-eating-disorder, and is especially effective among those with increased psychosocial problems. However, IPT was not superior to health education (HE) to prevent excess weight gain at 1-year follow-up in 113 adolescent girls at high-risk for excess weight gain because of loss-of-control eating and high body mass index (BMI; kg/m2; Tanofsky-Kraff et al., 2014).



Participants from the original trial were recontacted 3 years later for assessment. At baseline, adolescent- and parent-reported social-adjustment problems and trait anxiety were evaluated. At baseline and follow-ups, BMIz and adiposity by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry were obtained.



Nearly 60% were reassessed at 3 years, with no group differences in participation (ps ≥ .70). Consistent with 1 year, there was no main effect of group on change in BMIz/adiposity (ps ≥ .18). In exploratory analyses, baseline social-adjustment problems and trait-anxiety moderated outcome (ps < .01). Among girls with high self-reported baseline social-adjustment problems or anxiety, IPT, compared to HE, was associated with the steepest declines in BMIz (p < .001). For adiposity, girls with high or low anxiety in HE and girls with low anxiety in IPT experienced gains (ps ≤ .03), while girls in IPT with high anxiety stabilized. Parent-reports yielded complementary findings.



In obesity-prone adolescent girls, IPT was not superior to HE in preventing excess weight gain at 3 years. Consistent with theory, exploratory analyses suggested that IPT was associated with improvements in BMIz over 3 years among youth with high social-adjustment problems or trait anxiety. Future studies should test the efficacy of IPT for obesity prevention among at-risk girls with social-adjustment problems and/or anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record
Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology.
Marian
M
Tanofsky-Kraff
Section on Growth and Obesity, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.
Lauren B
LB
Shomaker
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine.
Denise E
DE
Wilfley
Department of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University.
Jami F
JF
Young
Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology.
Tracy
T
Sbrocco
Department of Family Medicine.
Mark
M
Stephens
Section on Growth and Obesity, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.
Sheila M
SM
Brady
Section on Growth and Obesity, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.
Ovidiu
O
Galescu
Section on Growth and Obesity, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.
Andrew
A
Demidowich
Department of Preventative Medicine and Biometrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Cara H
CH
Olsen
Department of Nutrition, Hatfield Clinical Research Center, National Institutes of Health.
Merel
M
Kozlosky
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Hatfield Clinical Research Center, National Institutes of Health.
James C
JC
Reynolds
Section on Growth and Obesity, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.
Jack A
JA
Yanovski
D000293:Adolescent; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012306:Risk; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015430:Weight Gain