Great expectations: "I'm losing 25% of my weight no matter what you say".

Author: Wadden TA, Womble LG, Sarwer DB, Berkowitz RI, Clark VL, Foster GD

Author affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104, USA. wadden@mail.med.upenn.edu

Publication date & source: 2003.12, J Consult Clin Psychol., 71(6):1084-9.

Publication type: Clinical Trial; Comparative Study ; Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

This study investigated whether informing obese individuals that they would lose only modest amounts of weight would lead them to adopt more realistic weight loss expectations. At a screening interview, 53 obese women reported that they expected to lose the equivalent of 28% of their initial weight during 1 year of treatment with the medication sibutramine. Prior to beginning treatment, participants were informed, both verbally and in writing, that they could expect to lose 5% to 15% of initial weight, the loss typically induced by current behavioral and pharmacologic approaches. This information, however, had little impact on their weight loss expectations when assessed on subsequent occasions. Results are discussed in terms of the origins, clinical significance, and potential malleability of obese individuals' weight loss expectations. 2003 APA