Emotion regulation strategies predict weight loss during an inpatient obesity treatment for adolescents

Objective: Weight loss during an inpatient obesity treatment is an important predictor of subsequent weight maintenance. However, psychological factors influencing weight loss are not well established. Psychological models suggest some importance of executive functioning and emotion regulation strategies. Therefore, this study investigated whether these factors predict weight loss during an inpatient obesity treatment and whether this effect holds after controlling for general personal and treatment characteristics. Method: A total of 158 adolescents with diagnosed obesity underwent inpatient obesity treatment at a German rehabilitation clinic. Psychological factors (executive functioning and emotion regulation) were measured at admission and used to predict BMI reduction after treatment completion. Results: More frequent use of reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy, but not suppression or executive functioning, predicted weight loss at the end of the obesity treatment, even after controlling for age, gender, treatment duration, and BMI at admission. Conclusion: Functional emotion regulation strategies, like reappraisal, might offer an additional target for obesity treatment programmes, complementary to the more traditional components of psychoeducation, physical activity, and caloric restriction.