ACT for Healthy Living: a Brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Intervention for Women With Obesity

Purpose

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate if a 4-hour acceptance and commitment therapy workshop can help the adoption and maintenance of healthy lifestyle behaviors in women with obesity. The objectives are as follows: 1. To assess changes in ACT-related constructs before and after the workshop 2. To assess changes in other psychological constructs that have been shown to hinder successful weight management before and after the workshop 3. To assess changes in dietary and physical activity behaviors before and after the workshop. Participants will complete baseline questionnaires and anthropometric measures at three time points: baseline, 1 week after the workshop, and 1 month after the workshop. Researchers will compare an active intervention group to a waitlist control group to investigate the efficacy of the workshop.

Condition

  • Obesity

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 40 Years and 70 Years
Eligible Genders
Female
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

  • Inclusion criteria will be individuals who self-identify as women, have a BMI of >30.0 kg/m2 based on self-reported height and weight, are able to read and understand written and spoken English, and have a primary residence within 50 miles driving distance of the University of Alabama at Birmingham campus.

Exclusion Criteria

  • Exclusion criteria will include presence of eating disorder symptoms (assessed by participant self-report for a former or current diagnosis) presence of a major mood disorder (assessed by participant self-report of a current or former diagnosis), recent weight change of +/-10 pounds, recent use of prescription medication for weight loss, and current participation in another weight management program.

Study Design

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

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Intervention
Participants in the intervention group will receive the ACT workshop
  • Behavioral: ACT workshop
    This workshop is a brief behavioral intervention that teaches acceptance and commitment therapy skills (e.g., values clarification, acceptance, committed action) to approach healthy living.
No Intervention
Waitlist Control
Participants in the waitlist control group will not receive the intervention until all members of the intervention group have received the workshop. Once all members of the intervention group have received the workshop, participants in the waitlist control group will be able to receive the workshop if they so desire.

Recruiting Locations

University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama 35205
Contact:
Andrea Davis, MA
205-206-9434
andrealdavis@uabmc.edu

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Study Contact

Andrea L Davis, MA
(205) 934-8723
andrealdavis@uabmc.edu

Detailed Description

Acceptance and commitment therapy interventions demonstrate efficacy for weight loss. ACT-based workshops represent an innovative and potentially scalable application of this approach to obesity treatment. 70 women will be recruited to participate. Half of the participants (n = 35) will receive a brief ( approximately 4-hour) workshop that aims to facilitate the development and maintenance of healthy lifestyle behaviors using ACT principles such as valued living and committed action. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, 1-week, and 1-month post-intervention.