A brief mindfulness-based intervention reduces eating disorder symptoms and improves eating self-efficacy and emotion regulation among adults seeking bariatric surgery

Background Up to 64% of bariatric (weight-loss) surgery-seeking adults report eating disorder (ED) symptoms (i.e., binge eating, emotional eating, addictive-like eating, and grazing) that can interfere with surgery outcomes. Well-designed pre-surgical interventions targeting eating behaviours may reduce ED symptoms and protect against suboptimal surgery outcomes. Objectives Provide proof-of-concept data to inform the design and optimization of a pre-surgical mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) for ED symptoms. Evaluate whether the MBI produces meaningful improvements in ED symptoms and clarify the mechanisms-of-action by which the MBI impacts ED symptoms. Methods Twenty-one pre-surgical patients with obesity and ED symptoms referred to a MBI completed self-report measures of addictive-like eating, binge eating, emotional eating, grazing, mindful eating, eating self-efficacy, and emotion regulation pre-(T1) and post-(T2) MBI. Results Repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed improvements in binge eating symptoms (F (1,20) = 30.38, ηp2 = .60, p < .001) and grazing (F (1,20) = 7.57, ηp2 = .28, p = .012), pre- to post-MBI. Adjusting for multiple comparisons, no significant improvements were found for addictive-like eating or emotional eating. Eating self-efficacy (F (1,20) = 29.70, ηp2 = .60, p < .001) and emotion regulation (F (1,20) = 7.18, ηp2 = .26, p = .014) improved, while mindful eating decreased (F (1,20) = 16.25, ηp2 = .45, p = .001), following the MBI. Bivariate correlations found associations between improvements in the mechanism of eating self-efficacy and improvements in the ED symptom of grazing pre- to post-MBI (r = 0.46, p < .05).  As well, improvements in emotion regulation were associated with positive changes in binge and emotional eating and grazing (r = 0.55, p < .001, r = 0.66, p < .001, r = 0.61, p < .05, respectively). Conclusions After participating in the MBI binge eating, grazing, eating self-efficacy, and emotion regulation abilities improved. Further work is needed to understand and mitigate deterioration in mindful eating. Moreover, acceptability and feasibility of the MBI should be assessed prior to testing the MBI in a large-scale efficacy trial. Future research should assess the the impact of this intervention on post-surgery weight-loss, weight-loss maintenance, and maintenance of improvements in ED symptoms

Internet-based small changes for young adults' life longevity and weight health : the iSCALE feasibility study

Lifestyle, developmental, and transitional factors contribute to young adults gaining weight faster than any other age group and at a rate faster than previous generations. Left untreated, overweight and obesity increases the risk for chronic conditions and can reduce the quality and length of life. A weight management approach per 2020 clinical practice guidelines is Small Changes, a cognitive-behavioural healthy lifestyle program that promotes modest (i.e., gradual changes relative to a person’s baseline behavioural levels) and self-selected (i.e., non-prescriptive) diet and physical activity changes. Small Changes has positively impacted psychological and physical health outcomes among difficult-to-treat populations, but has not yet been tested among young adults. This study assessed the acceptability and feasibility of a self-paced, online-delivered, podcast- and community forum-augmented version of Small Changes among young adults. The secondary aims evaluated the impact on weight, symptoms of depression and anxiety, self-compassion, and frequency of weight control strategies. Fifteen modules included cognitive-behavioural-based content, and five modules included an accompanying podcast. For social support, participants had access to an optional online community forum. Fifty-two participants self-reported their height and weight and completed an online questionnaire package at pre-intervention and 27 at post-intervention (12 weeks). The intervention was largely acceptable to completers, as the average satisfaction rating across modules was 8.30/10.00 and the average likelihoods that a participant would continue to use the skills learned and recommend the modules to another individual were 76.09% and 74.30%, respectively. Completers tended to be younger and have a lower starting weight and BMI than those that dropped out. Average weight change was -1.08kgs; further, 42.90% of the sample lost 3% or more of their total body weight. Symptoms of depression and anxiety did not significantly improve pre- to post-intervention, nor did levels of self-compassion; however, the frequency of weight control strategies did significantly increase pre- to post-intervention. The intervention was feasible in terms of recruitment ease (e.g., two weeks duration and cost $5.00 per participant), but not in terms of adherence (35.96%) or retention (46.65%).Arts and Social Sciences, Irving K. Barber Faculty of (Okanagan)Psychology, Department of (Okanagan)Graduat