Does inhibitory control capacity in overweight and obese children and adolescents predict success in a weight-reduction program?

Abstract

It has been assumed that inhibitory control capacity might influence the success of overweight or obese subjects in reducing weight. However, empirical research on this association is scarce. The present study, therefore, examines whether success in an outpatient weight-reduction program for children and adolescents can be predicted by pre-intervention inhibitory control capacity. The study sample consisted of 111 overweight and obese children and adolescents (7.5-15 years) who attended an outpatient weight-reduction program of 1 year's duration. Inhibitory control was assessed by two computerized neuropsychological procedures, a Go-NoGo and an interference task. Principal component analysis revealed "impulsivity" (fast but less valid reactions) and "inattention" (slow and highly variable reaction times) component. Those who succeeded in the intervention (losing more than 5% of BMI-SDS; n = 63) scored significantly higher in the first component than those who failed, while controlling for pre-intervention BMI-SDS, age, gender, and maternal education level. The association was moderated by age. Although in younger children no effect was found, in adolescents high "impulsivity" predicted success. Our result supports the scant evidence for a role of inhibitory control. However, further studies are required to substantiate that weak inhibitory control, and thus high reactivity to external cues, entails a better outcome in behavior modification interventions.

Learned desires

“…However, this finding seems in sharp contrast with several studies linking impulsivity to a greater chance of relapse (Doran, Spring, McChargue, Pergadia, & Richmond, 2004;Yoon et al, 2007), and with a study suggesting impulsivity interferes with weight loss (Nederkoorn et al, 2007). There are also a few reports, however, linking impulsivity with a reduced risk of relapse after treatment (Papachristou, Nederkoorn, Giesen, & Jansen, 2014;Pauli-Pott, Albayrak, Hebebrand, & Pott, 2010). One intriguing possibility is that those treatments and the current extinction procedure targeted similar underlying mechanisms that the impulsives (who may need it the most) benefitted most from.…”

“…This result is in contrast with a study reporting negative relationships between impulsivity and weight loss success (Nederkoorn et al, 2007), and with several addiction studies showing positive associations between impulsivity and risk of relapse (e.g., Doran, Spring, McChargue, Pergadia, & Richmond, 2004;Yoon et al, 2007). However, we have previously found impulsivity to moderate reacquisition of conditioned desires in precisely the manner reported here (van den Akker et al, 2014, study 2), and, in fact, some studies have associated higher impulsivity with lower relapse rates after treatment and greater benefits from a weight reduction program in overweight children (Papachristou, Nederkoorn, Giesen, & Jansen, 2014;Pauli-Pott, Albayrak, Hebebrand, & Pott, 2010). The authors suggested that their impulsive participants might have benefitted more from certain aspects of the behaviour modification therapies that they had received, and one could speculate that the present extinction procedures have tapped into similar underlying constructs.…”

Association of symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with childhood overweight adjusted for confounding parental variables

“…31 ADHD symptoms were shown to be strong negative predictors of intentional weight loss in all previous studies 11,32,33 except for one. 34 Thus, while adolescent girls with low ADHD symptoms may have better chances to achieve normal weight, those with high ADHD symptoms might tend to fail and remain overweight.…”

Psychological correlates of childhood obesity

“…Regarding the influence of impulsivity on treatment course, data are contradictory. 43,44 Other data pointing to the role of impulsivity demonstrated that overweight children reached higher scores in delinquent problems and were evaluated by peers as being more aggressive and disruptive than non-overweight children. 45,46 Not only poor inhibitory control, but also reward sensitivity, another aspect of impulsive behavior, has been linked to childhood obesity or overeating.…”