Psychosocial predictors of weight loss and psychological adjustment following bariatric surgery and a weight-loss program: the mediating role of emotional eating.

OBJECTIVE: To examine a structural equation model of the effects of personal and interpersonal factors on treatment outcome of bariatric surgery and weight-loss program.
METHOD: Forty-four participants of the surgery group and 47 participants of the diet group completed questionnaires before treatment and 1 year afterward. Predictor measures are as follows: social support, motivation for control, sense of control, self-esteem, neuroticism, fear of intimacy, and emotional eating (EE). OUTCOME MEASURES: Weight loss, quality of life, and mental health.
RESULTS: Neurotic predisposition (NP), a latent variable indicated by neuroticism, low self-esteem, and fear of intimacy, had an effect on weight loss that was fully mediated by EE. NP also had an effect on quality of life improvement that was fully mediated by EE and weight loss in both treatment groups. DISCUSSION: Both NP and EE predict outcome of obesity treatments, but EE is the more proximal variable that mediates the effect of NP.