Preliminary Results from the ACTyourCHANGE in Teens Protocol: A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Adolescents with Obesity

Anna Guerrini Usubini, Roberto Cattivelli, Asia Radaelli, Michela Bottacchi, Giulia Landi, Eliana Tossani, Silvana Grandi, Gianluca Castelnuovo and Alessandro Sartorio
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Anna Guerrini Usubini: Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, 20145 Milan, Italy
Roberto Cattivelli: Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Asia Radaelli: Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, 20123 Milan, Italy
Michela Bottacchi: Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, 20145 Milan, Italy
Giulia Landi: Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Eliana Tossani: Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Silvana Grandi: Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Gianluca Castelnuovo: Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, 20145 Milan, Italy
Alessandro Sartorio: Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Experimental Laboratory for Auxo-Endocrinological Research, Piancavallo [VB], 28824 Verbania, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: The study shows preliminary results of “The ACTyourCHANGE in Teens” project, a Randomized Controlled Trial aimed at evaluating the efficacy of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based intervention combined with treatment as usual (ACT+TAU) compared to TAU only, for improving psychological well-being, psychological distress, experiential avoidance and fusion, emotion dysregulation, and emotional eating in a sample of 34 in-patient adolescents with obesity (Body Mass Index > 97th centile). Mixed between-within 2 × 2 repeated-measures analyses of variances (ANOVAs) were carried out to examine the changes in psychological conditions of participants over time. Moderation analyses were also conducted to test whether pre-test anxiety, depression, stress, and experiential avoidance and fusion predicted emotional eating at post-test with groups (ACT+TAU vs. TAU only) as moderators. Only a significant interaction effect (time × group) from pre- to post-test ( p = 0.031) and a significant main effect of time on anxiety ( p < 0.001) and emotional eating ( p = 0.010) were found. Only in the TAU only group were higher levels of depression ( p = 0.0011), stress ( p = 0.0012), and experiential avoidance and fusion ( p = 0.0282) at pre-test significantly associated with higher emotional eating at post-test. Although future replication and improvements of the study may allow us to obtain more consistent results, this preliminary evidence is actually promising.

Keywords: childhood obesity; obesity rehabilitation; adolescents; acceptance and commitment therapy; psychological well-being; experiential avoidance and fusion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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