Parent involvement in a treatment program for obese retarded adults.

Two groups of moderately retarded, obese adults were given a 10-week behavioral treatment program designed to produce changes in their eating, activity and self-reinforcement patterns and to produce weight loss. In one group (N = 8, X = 27 years) parents of the participants were actively involved in the treatment program; in the second group (N = 7, X age = 29) parents were minimally involved. At the end of treatment, subjects in the parent-involved group lost significantly more weight (X = 7.4 pounds) with less intra-group variability (S.D. = 2.26 pounds) than the other treatment group (X = 2.4 pounds; S.D. = 4.38 pounds). A strong correlation was also found between degree of subject involvement in treatment (as measured by the number of daily homework forms completed) and weight loss. Implications of the data for future treatment programs are discussed.