Weight maintenance: Self-regulatory factors underpinning success and failure

Objectives: To investigate the differences in the contributing factors involved in weight maintenance success and failure.

Design: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with both successful and unsuccessful weight maintainers. Eighteen participants were recruited (16 women), nine of who had lost 10% of their body weight and maintained this weight for a minimum of 12?months (Maintainers), and nine individuals who met the above criteria for weight loss but had subsequently regained their weight (Regainers). A thematic analysis was employed to compare the differences between the two groups.

Results and conclusions: Two main themes highlighted the differences between the two groups, these were: goal regulation and self-control. Within these overarching themes, successful weight maintenance was related to the following subthemes: long-term, realistic goal setting, consistent use of routines and self-monitoring, avoiding deprivation and effective coping skills. Unsuccessful maintenance was related to short-term unrealistic goal setting, inconsistent routines and self-monitoring, experiencing deprivation and poor coping skills. These factors are explained in terms of the interrelationships that they have on one another and their subsequent impact on weight maintenance success or failure.     

Negotiating control: Patients’ experiences of unsuccessful weight-loss surgery

Interviews were carried out with 10 men and women who had undergone weight-loss surgery (WLS) up to 10 years ago and felt that it had failed. Seven had had a further successful procedure. Data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Weight regain following surgery was explained in terms of either the mechanics of the operation or with participants describing ways to ‘cheat’ as food continued to be used for emotional regulation. Everyone spoke of how surgery neglected their mind. Following the second successful surgery, participants described changes in both their eating behaviour and cognitions emphasising how their mind had been brought ‘in gear’ through the investment of two invasive procedures. Transcending all accounts was the mind/body relationship and the issue of control with attributions for both failed and successful surgery shifting from the self to the surgical mechanism as the participants negotiated the pathway between self-blame and responsibility and utilised conflicting frameworks in which the mind and body were either divided or united. Whereas failed surgery is characterised by a battle for control, successful surgery involves handing control over to their restricted stomachs or considering WLS as a tool to be worked with.     

Unhealthy weight control behaviours in adolescent girls: a process model based on self-determination theory

This study used self-determination theory (Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2000). The ‘what’ and ‘why’ of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268.) to examine predictors of body image concerns and unhealthy weight control behaviours in a sample of 350 Greek adolescent girls. A process model was tested which proposed that perceptions of parental autonomy support and two life goals (health and image) would predict adolescents’ degree of satisfaction of their basic psychological needs. In turn, psychological need satisfaction was hypothesised to negatively predict body image concerns (i.e. drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction) and, indirectly, unhealthy weight control behaviours. The predictions of the model were largely supported indicating that parental autonomy support and adaptive life goals can indirectly impact upon the extent to which female adolescents engage in unhealthy weight control behaviours via facilitating the latter's psychological need satisfaction.     

Overgeneralization from limited data: A commentary on Cooper et al., 2010

This article comments on a recent paper by Cooper et al. in BRAT. Its main purpose is to comment on the provocative conclusion in the paper that behavioral research on weight loss maintenance should be abandoned. We disagree, arguing that the authors over generalize from their research, under crediting past behavioral weight loss research for its accomplishments, which are considerable. We briefly outline areas we believe remain exciting new research directions in this field.     

Foreign Language Training Transfer: Individual and Contextual Predictors of Skill Maintenance and Generalization

Foreign language proficiency is a critical skill in which many U.S. military personnel receive extensive training. However, very little research has examined the factors associated with the successful transfer of this training. This study therefore investigates the impact of individual and contextual variables on two different types of foreign language skill transfer measures in a military context. Archival data were analyzed from 133 U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) teams, including 919 Soldiers who had completed job-required foreign language training. Results indicate that initial skill acquisition had a positive impact on both the maintenance and generalization of language skills. The posttraining time interval between training and transfer measurement was negatively associated with skill maintenance, suggesting significant skill decay over time. The team context also accounted for significant variability in skill transfer, and the team mean skill level moderated the relationship between individual initial skill and subsequent generalization to job performance.     

错误出生之诉特殊抚养费赔偿规则研究——基于65例生效裁判文书的实证分析

特殊抚养费系错误出生之诉中父母寻求救济的主要项目之一,司法实践中对特殊抚养费是否应赔以及赔偿标准、原因力大小、赔偿类目、赔偿期限如何确定的问题莫衷一是。结合侵权法理论以及公共价值导向来看,支持特殊抚养费赔偿在法理和伦理上均具有合理性。在实证基础上对实践和理论经验进行总结,提出特殊抚养费的计算应以现行人身损害赔偿标准为主要参考,可通过医疗过失的严重程度对原因力进行分级量化,未来费用的赔偿在经过充分理由后可获得支持,计算期限以孩子年满18周岁为止。