Objective: We used latent profile analysis (LPA) to classify children and adolescents into subtypes based on the overlap of disinhibited eating behaviors--eating in the absence of hunger, emotional eating, and subjective and objective binge eating. Method: Participants were 411 youths (8-18 years) from the community who reported on their…

Objective: Although behavioral weight-loss interventions produce short-term weight loss, long-term maintenance remains elusive. This randomized trial examined whether learning a novel set of "stability skills" before losing weight improved long-term weight management. Stability skills were designed to optimize individuals' current…

Objective: Our goal was to determine whether behavioral economic constructs--including impulsivity (i.e., steep discounting of delayed food and monetary rewards), the relative reinforcing value of food (RRV[subscript food]), and environmental enrichment (i.e., the presence of alternatives to unhealthy foods in the home and neighborhood…

Objective: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is the best established treatment for binge-eating disorder (BED) but does not produce weight loss. The efficacy of behavioral weight loss (BWL) in obese patients with BED is uncertain. This study compared CBT, BWL, and a sequential approach in which CBT is delivered first, followed by BWL (CBT + BWL).…

Objective: To compare and contrast 5 sets of expert recommendations about the treatment of childhood and adolescent obesity. Method: We reviewed 5 sets of recent expert recommendations: 2007 health care organizations' four stage model, 2007 Canadian clinical practice guidelines, 2008 Endocrine Society recommendations, 2009 seven step model, and…

Objective: Our purpose in this study was to examine 2 treatments targeted at reducing eating in the absence of hunger in overweight and obese children. Method: Thirty-six overweight and obese 8- to 12-year-old children (58% female; mean age = 10.3 years, SD = 1.3), with high scores on eating in the absence of hunger, and their parents were…

Objective: Research has examined various aspects of the validity of the research criteria for binge eating disorder (BED) but has yet to evaluate the utility of Criterion C, "marked distress about binge eating." This study examined the significance of the marked distress criterion for BED using 2 complementary comparison groups. Method:…

This study compared weight control strategies during the winter holidays among successful weight losers (SWL) in the National Weight Control Registry and normal weight individuals (NW) with no history of obesity. SWL (n = 178) had lost a mean of 34.9 kg and had kept greater than or equal to 13.6 kg off for a mean of 5.9 years. NW (n = 101) had a…

Children and adolescents who are overweight are a heterogeneous group. Whether pretreatment characteristics, such as dietary restraint and psychopathology, are related to differential treatment outcomes was not studied before. Using cluster analysis, the authors of this study examined the validity of subtyping along dietary restraint and…

Objective: The purpose of the study was to explore heterogeneity and differential treatment outcome among a sample of patients with binge eating disorder (BED). Method: A latent class analysis was conducted with 205 treatment-seeking, overweight or obese individuals with BED randomized to interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), behavioral weight loss…

In this study, the authors examined whether the number or success of weight loss partners influences participants' outcomes in behavioral weight loss treatment. Overweight participants (n=109) assigned to an exercise intensive group in a larger trial were encouraged to invite up to 3 partners to attend treatment. Weight losses at 6, 12, and 18…

Disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, and obesity have been associated cross sectionally with suicidal behavior in adolescents. To determine the extent to which these variables predicted suicidal ideation and attempts, the authors examined these relationships in a longitudinal design. The study population included 2,516 older adolescents and…

Compared self-concept in 210 obese and normal-weight children in grades 3-8. No significant differences were found, as measured by the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, and mean scores for both groups fell within normal limits. (Author/BH)

Adolescent girls with body dissatisfaction (N = 481, SD = 1.4) were randomized to a dissonance-based thin-ideal internalization reduction program, healthy weight control program, expressive writing control condition, or assessment-only control condition. Dissonance participants showed significantly greater decreases in thin-ideal internalization,…

Examined effects of frequency, time, and method of assessment on reports of psychological functioning in 28 obese women who lost an average of 19.2 kilograms in 6 months. Results showed that method of mood assessment may determine the answer to the question of whether dieting is associated with adverse psychological consequences. (NB)