Parental participation in behavior therapy for adolescent obesity

Hines, Anne Louise (1981) Parental participation in behavior therapy for adolescent obesity. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF (Migrated (PDF/A Conversion) from original format: (application/pdf)) - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (16MB) [English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. (Original Version)

Abstract

Obesity is a common problem among adolescents. Traditional treatment methods have not produced longterm weight losses. Behavior therapy has been found to produce more easily maintainable weight losses as it requires the client to make permanent changes in weight related behaviors. The inclusion of a parent in many types of therapies has been found to augment treatment results. Recently a behavior therapy parent group has been found to facilitate adolescent weight loss. -- The present study was designed to determine whether parent involvement in an adolescent weight loss program through a bibliotherapy format would aid in weight reduction. Twenty-one subjects were recruited through newspaper and radio announcements. All subjects were at least 20% overweight, were not involved in other weight loss programs and had a parent willing to attend weekly meetings. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments: behavior therapy with or without bibliotherapy parent involvement or a nutrition control condition. Treatment was conducted over an eight week period. Follow-up assessments were held one and two months posttreatment. The behavior therapy programs followed the standard guidelines and did not give a specific diet list. The nutrition control group followed Canada's Food Guide. -- Repeated measures analyses of variance of pounds lost revealed no significant effects for group membership (F<1; df=2/15), time (F=1.07; df=3/45) or the interaction (F<1; df=6/45). Nor were significant effects found in changes in percent overweight for groups (F<1; df=2/15), time (F=1.35; df=3/45) or the interaction (F<1; df=6/45). Examination of posttreatment group means revealed that the average weight changes of the child alone behavior therapy group and the nutrition control group were highly similar. These groups were combined to form a control group against which the results of the parent group were compared. One-way analyses of variance on percent overweight change revealed significant between group differences at posttreatment (F=4.56; df=1/16; p<.05) and follow-up II (F=6.07; df=1/16; p<.10). Group differences aproached significance at follow-up I (F=4.33; df=1/15; p<.10). -- It was concluded that behavioral principles can be effectively conveyed to parents in a bibliotherapy format and that this type of parent involvement facilitates weight loss. The validity of the prediction that a child alone behavior therapy condition would lose more weight than a nonspecific control group was questioned.

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