Avoidance and inflexibility as a common clinical pathway in obesity and smoking treatment
Abstract
This brief study presents reductions in avoidance and inflexibility as a potential common clinical pathway to intervene on for both smoking cessation and weight control. A mediation analysis—using the Avoidance and Inflexibility Scale (AIS)—was conducted on a group of participants ( N = 84) who were shown to improve weight control outcomes after receiving an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention. Results were then compared to a previous study using the same process measure (AIS) for smoking cessation. Results suggest a common clinical pathway.
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Earlier work found that gains in psychological flexibility and acceptance mediated BMI changes after an acceptance-based workshop.
“Previous research has also demonstrated that increases in psychological flexibility and acceptance mediate changes in BMI following an acceptance-based workshop.38”
From The mind your health project: a randomized controlled trial of an innovative behavioral treatment for obesity (2013) · cites this paper as [38]
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- Authors
- Gifford, E. V., & Lillis, J.
- Affiliations
- Stanford Medicine (US)
- University of Nevada, Reno (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lillis, Jason
- ORCID
- Lillis, Jason
- Venue
- Journal of Health Psychology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2009-09-28
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 992-996
- ISSN
- 1359-1053 (ISSN-L)
- 1461-7277
- OpenAlex
- W1989737690
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Health Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- avoidance, inflexibility, smoking cessation, weight management, obesity treatment, acceptance and commitment therapy, mediation analysis
- MeSH terms
- Avoidance Learning, Humans, Obesity, Surveys and Questionnaires, Smoking, Negotiating, Outcome Assessment, Health Care, Critical Pathways
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