Acceptance-based Care for Child Eating and Physical Activity Treatment

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop and pilot test a new type of patient-centered, family-based treatment for children aged 8-12 with obesity and their caregivers. The treatment will focus specifically on improving children's self-regulation (SR) skills to help them better manage their feelings, behaviors, and thoughts to help them live a healthier lifestyle.

Conditions

  • Pediatric Obesity
  • Executive Function
  • Self-Regulation

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 8 Years and 12 Years
Eligible Genders
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

  • Children who: (1) have a BMI ≥ 85th percentile; (2) are ≥8 and ≤12 years old at the beginning of treatment; (3) can read, write, and speak English, along with their caregiver; (4) plan to stay living in the local area during the study period; (5) have a consenting caregiver who can commit to all study procedures and provide reliable travel.

Exclusion Criteria

  • Children who:(1) comorbid developmental/intellectual disability/traumatic brain injury/other identified condition known to substantially impact EF and/or weight management; (2) taking medication that is known to affect weight or appetite, (3) recent infection that may cause confounds of acute inflammation, (4) have an uncorrected visual or hearing impairment that would prohibit completion of cognitive testing, and (5) are unable to use an iPad with appropriate training for cognitive testing. The children without obesity (n=32) will have "normal-range" BMI scores (5th ≤BMI percentile< 85th) but otherwise follow the same inclusion/exclusion criteria.

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
N/A
Intervention Model
Single Group Assignment
Primary Purpose
Treatment
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Acceptance-based Behavioral Treatment
Family acceptance-based behavioral treatment (ABBT) will be piloted with 16 child-caregiver pairs. At weeks 0 (pre-treatment), 9 (mid-treatment), and 18 (post-treatment), feedback regarding the feasibility and acceptability will be collected from participants through surveys and semi-structured group interviews to refine the family ABBT protocol.
  • Behavioral: Acceptance-based Behavioral Treatment (ABBT)
    ABBT is rooted in behavioral therapy but also cultivates self-regulation skills including experiential acceptance of potentially uncomfortable internal experiences (e.g., emotions, cravings), mindful awareness of decision making (e.g., mindful eating), and values clarification and behavioral commitment (e.g., practicing daily physical activity to be a contributing member on a sports team). ABBT has been used effectively to help youth and adults manage various medical and psychological problems. Moreover, components of ABBT have been shown to improve child and adult EF including inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. Recently, ABBT has been integrated with components of standard behavioral treatment of obesity and applied with robust efficacy to weight management in adults.

More Details

Status
Completed
Sponsor
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Study Contact

Detailed Description

We aim to: (1) To determine the treatment needs of children ages 8-12 with obesity and their families with a focus on understanding cognitive function challenges that are related to self-regulation (using focus groups i.e. FG and feedback sessions i.e. FB). (2) To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of this novel family-based treatment. (3) Explore potential associations between pediatric cardiovascular (CVD) risk factors and self-regulation in children with and without overweight or obesity. (4) To refine the F-ABT protocol and to maximize participant feasibility, acceptability, safety, and tolerability of F-ABT. (5) To provide pilot, proof-of-concept, and preliminary efficacy data of beneficial effects of F-ABT on SR and BMI in children with SR deficits and their caregivers.