Obesity, Psychological
Conditions
Keywords
Food Insecurity
Brief summary
The current pilot study will examine emergent hypotheses by investigating the role of psychological mechanisms in the relationship between food insecurity and obesity. This objective will be achieved via a cross-sectional, observational pilot study collecting quantitative and qualitative data.
Detailed description
This pilot study will investigate an emergent risk factor for obesity: food insecurity, which is defined as the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods. While paradoxically linked, numerous studies have shown a significant association between food insecurity and obesity. Moreover, recent narrative works have developed new, untested hypotheses linking food insecurity and obesity positing the causal role of psychological mechanisms. Given this, this mixed method pilot study will collect new psychological data in a sample of food secure and food insecure adults with and without obesity to examine the connections between food insecurity, body weight, and psychological constructs. The overarching objective of the study is to gather pilot data to identify potentially new intervention targets that will be used in future studies to more rigorously investigate the relationship between food insecurity and obesity.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Study design
Observational model
OTHER
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 49 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Age 18-49 years * BMI ≥ 20.0 kg/m2 * Able to read and write using the English language * Willing to provide written informed consent
Exclusion criteria
* Pregnancy
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Delay Discounting | Through study completion, an average of 1 hour and 30 minutes at Study Visit 1 | Assessed via the 27-Item Monetary Choice Questionnaire, which measures bias toward smaller, immediate rewards versus larger, delayed rewards. This questionnaire presents participants with a set of 27 choices between smaller, immediate monetary rewards and larger, delayed monetary rewards. Participants who discount the value of the delayed rewards more steeply are considered to be more impulsive. An estimate of a participant's discounting rate (k) is calculated from the pattern of choices. Values of k range from 0.00016 (ln transformation -8.74) to 0.25 (ln transformation -1.39), with higher values indicating a greater preference for smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards. K tends to be skewed, so a natural log (ln) transformation is utilized to approximate a normal distribution for statistical analyses. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Grit | Through study completion, an average of 1 hour and 30 minutes at Study Visit 1 | Assessed using the 8-item Short Grit Scale, which measures trait-level perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Scores range from 1 (not at all gritty) to 5 (extremely gritty). |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| Single Group The study sample included a single group of 56 food secure and food insecure women and men aged 18 to 49 years with a BMI of 20.0 kg/m2 or greater. | 56 |
| Total | 56 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Single Group |
|---|---|
| Age, Continuous | 32.25 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 9.18 |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized African American | 27 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Caucasian or Asian American | 29 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 56 participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 37 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 19 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk |
|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 56 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 56 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 56 |
Outcome results
Primary
Delay Discounting
Assessed via the 27-Item Monetary Choice Questionnaire, which measures bias toward smaller, immediate rewards versus larger, delayed rewards. This questionnaire presents participants with a set of 27 choices between smaller, immediate monetary rewards and larger, delayed monetary rewards. Participants who discount the value of the delayed rewards more steeply are considered to be more impulsive. An estimate of a participant's discounting rate (k) is calculated from the pattern of choices. Values of k range from 0.00016 (ln transformation -8.74) to 0.25 (ln transformation -1.39), with higher values indicating a greater preference for smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards. K tends to be skewed, so a natural log (ln) transformation is utilized to approximate a normal distribution for statistical analyses.
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 hour and 30 minutes at Study Visit 1
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Group | Delay Discounting | -4.84 score on a scale (natural log) | Standard Deviation 2.07 |
Secondary
Grit
Assessed using the 8-item Short Grit Scale, which measures trait-level perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Scores range from 1 (not at all gritty) to 5 (extremely gritty).
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 hour and 30 minutes at Study Visit 1
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Group | Grit | 3.68 score on a scale | Standard Deviation 0.63 |