Motivational Interviewing for Weight Loss

The Hospital for Sick Children

Status: Completed

Conditions: Childhood Obesity

Treatments: Behavioral: Social Skills Training (Control Group); Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing (Treatment Group)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01246349

1000017625

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigators studied the effect of motivational interviewing (MI) on self-efficacy, health behaviors, and health outcomes in overweight children and adolescents (ages ranging from 10 to 18 years).

Full description

One empirically supported intervention with a large evidence base for improving adult outcomes in behavioral health-related disorders is Motivational Interviewing (MI). MI is strongly rooted in the client-centered therapy of Rogers (1951). Its relational stance emphasizes the importance of understanding the client's internal frame of reference and displaying unconditional positive regard for the client. Motivational interviewing can thus be defined as a client-centered, directive method of therapy for enhancing intrinsic motivation to change by exploring and resolving ambivalence. MI manifests through specific strategies, such as reflective listening, summarization, shared decision making, and agenda setting.

Adolescent participants exposed to motivational interviewing in conjunction with usual care (diet and exercise program) are expected to endorse greater self-efficacy, report increased engagement in healthy behaviors, demonstrate a decrease in body weight and report improved psychological outcomes. While motivational interviewing has been shown to increase adults' motivation to make healthy behavior changes, few adolescent studies have demonstrated this effect.

Enrollment: 40 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 10 to 18 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Obese youth (with Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥ to 85th percentile for age and gender (as classified by the Center for Disease Control))
• ages 10-18 years
• attending a local obesity clinic ("Healthy Weights" clinic)

Time of entry into the weight-loss program was controlled for; however, both new and current participants had the option to participate in the study.

Exclusion criteria

• taking medication whose side effects may influence weight gain or weight loss
• did not speak English
• demonstrated a developmental delay
• reported being pregnant and/or reported having an eating disorder

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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40 participants in 2 patient groups

Motivational Interviewing Group

Experimental group

Description:

For the Motivational Interviewing (MI) treatment group, a clinical psychology doctoral student trained in Motivational Interviewing administered six individual motivational interviewing treatment sessions, each 30 minutes in length.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing (Treatment Group)

Control Group

Active Comparator group

Description:

The comparison group received six social skills training sessions instead of Motivational Interviewing (MI).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Social Skills Training (Control Group)