Psychosocial Responses and Body Weight Changes in African American and Caucasian Overweight and Obese Youth Attending a Weight Management Program

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Wald_umbc_0434D_11589.pdf (4.95 MB)

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http://hdl.handle.net/11603/15801

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UMBC Theses and Dissertations

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Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2016-01-01

Type of Work

dissertations
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Department

Psychology

Program

Psychology

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This item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu
Distribution Rights granted to UMBC by the author.

Subjects

Behavior Assessment System for Children
Second Edition (BASC-2) and The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL4.0)
Ethnic differences in African American and Caucasian Youth
Health Related Quality of Life
Pediatric Obesity
Psychosocial Functioning
Weight Management Program and Intervention Comparison

Abstract

Pediatric obesity studies have examined the effect of lifestyle treatment programs on weight loss, psychosocial functioning, and health related quality of life (HRQOL), and have found inconsistent results. Numerous studies highlight ethnic differences in psychological well-being and HRQOL in overweight and obese youth, however, few studies analyze or report responses to treatment based on ethnicity. This study aimed to expand our understanding of ethnic differences in treatment responses in overweight and obese youth attending a pediatric weight management program. The program examined two intervention groups, the Intensive Group (IG program) and Standard of Care (SOC) treatment. Participants between 8 to 17 years either attended the IG program or SOC treatment within the weight management program. This study compared whether there was differential responding (zBMI scores, psychosocial functioning and HRQOL scores) between ethnic groups (African American and Caucasian) using a pre and post-intervention assessment (at 10-24 months) approach. This study also examined if there was an effect of program participation in the entire sample regardless of ethnic group or intervention group (IG or SOC) on zBMI scores, psychosocial functioning and HRQOL scores. Participants completed measures for psychosocial functioning (Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2)) and HRQOL (The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL4.0)), and data was collected to obtain their zBMI scores at pre and post intervention. Results revealed no differential responding in psychosocial functioning between ethnic groups at follow-up for participants in the IG program. There was a significant effect of program participation in the IG sample on parent-reported withdrawal scores (improvements at follow-up) regardless of ethnicity. There were significant effects of program participation regardless of ethnic group or intervention group on zBMI scores (decrease in scores), and four HRQOL scales post program participation, with three out of four scales displaying improvements. There was not a significant interaction between ethnicity and invention group, nor a main effect of ethnicity or intervention group for zBMI or HRQOL scores from intake to follow-up assessments in youth attending the IG program relative to SOC treatment. Caucasians and African Americans demonstrated positive non-significant trends across several HRQOL scales from intake to follow-up assessments, with Caucasians exhibiting generally greater increases in HRQOL scores. These trends can be discussed with families so they are aware of potential benefits of attending weight management programs. Future studies should incorporate a qualitative component to gain a better understanding of youth'spsychosocial responses to weight management interventions across ethnic groups. This information can help identify areas to target in future interventions, leading to more culturally sensitive interventions.