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Characteristics of successful and unsuccessful dieters: An application of signal detection methodology

  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Signal detection methods were used to identify predictors of successful weight loss in 177 mildly to moderately overweight women and men assigned to one of two weight-loss programs. Predictors included initial demographic, physiological, behavioral, and psychosocial characteristics, and program type (e.g. diet-only and diet-plus-exercise). Successful weight loss was defined as a loss of at least two units of body mass index at one year. Four subgroups were identified. Participants in the diet-plus-exercise program who were initially more satisfied with their bodies and did not have a history of repeated weight loss were most likely to succeed (63% succeeded). In contrast, participants assigned to the diet-plus-exercise program who were either extremely dissatisfied with their bodies or who had a history of repeated weight loss were at similar risk for failure as participants in the diet-only program (only 26% to 35% succeeded). The results underscore the potential utility of exploring these subgroups further to inform the development of new treatment strategies to increase the likelihood of success.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA

    Michaela Kiernan, Abby C. King, Helena C. Kraemer, Marcia L. Stefanick & Joel D. Killen

Authors
  1. Michaela Kiernan
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  2. Abby C. King
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  3. Helena C. Kraemer
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  4. Marcia L. Stefanick
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  5. Joel D. Killen
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Additional information

Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by PHS individual National Research Service Award 1 F32 HL09380 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded to Dr. Kiernan; PHS institutional National Research Service Award 5 T32 HL07034 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; PHS grant HL24462 from the National Institutes of Health; and PHS grant AG12358 from the National Institute on Aging awarded to Dr. King.

We thank Daniel P. Williams, Ph.D. for his substantive input on this manuscript.

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Kiernan, M., King, A.C., Kraemer, H.C. et al. Characteristics of successful and unsuccessful dieters: An application of signal detection methodology. ann. behav. med. 20, 1–6 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02893802

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