The Role of Psychological Well-Being in Weight Loss: New Insights from a Comprehensive Lifestyle Intervention

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Although the literature suggested that impaired psychological well-being (PWB) is associated with obesity, evidence on the role of PWB in weight outcomes is limited and inconclusive. This research aimed to investigate the joint role of PWB in achieving clinically significant weight loss (CWL; loss of 5% of the initial weight) through a comprehensive lifestyle intervention for obesity using a broad-based evaluation. METHOD: This study is a prospective cohort of 96 patients with obesity attending a comprehensive lifestyle intervention for weight loss. Data on weight, lifestyle, PWB, and distress, were collected before and after the intervention. RESULTS: 30.5% of the participants achieved CWL at the end of treatment. A more pronounced increase in autonomy (odds ratio = 0.80 [95% CI: 0.68, 0.93], p ≤ .01) and somatization (odds ratio = 0.83 [95% CI: 0.70, 0.98], p ≤ .05) from pre- to post-treatment were independently associated with a lower probability of CWL. CONCLUSIONS: Unbalanced dimensions of PWB, in particular exceedingly high autonomy, may contribute to a poor weight loss outcome. This study paves the way for the addition of psychotherapeutic strategies geared to euthymia in comprehensive lifestyle intervention.