Episodic Future Thinking and Weight-Loss

Study Summary

Family-based treatments (FBT) for obesity have been shown to be effective in achieving significant weight reductionin overweight or obese children and parents \[Altman \& Wilfley, 2015\]. One component of the current FBT programused in this study that has received little attention is thought training, specifically episodic future thinking (EFT). EFTteaches individuals to pre-experience events, or think prospectively, about future events as if they were happeningnow and has been shown to reduce delay discounting (DD) which is defined as discounting smaller rewards now for a larger reward in the \[Daniel, Said, Stanton, \& Epstein\]. Furthermore, EFT has been shown to help people purchase fewer calories when they are grocery shopping \[Hollis-Hansen et al., 2019\], thereby displaying potential to be an effective measure in modulating the food environment in homes and may play a role in changing eating behaviors related to weight loss \[Appelhaus et al.,2019\]. Given the power of EFT in promoting the purchase of fewer calories, it is plausible that EFT training focused around grocery shopping during FBT could help shift one's thought processes towards healthier food choices, promoting behavioral change that has lasting impact on the home environment. Thus, the primary purpose of this study is to assess whether EFT training promotes active behavioral change pertaining to grocery shopping during FBT. In turn,this resulting behavior change could lead to healthier eating behavior and may promote weight loss for the whole family. We hypothesize: * There will be a reduction in BMI for adults/percent over BMI for children and weight from baseline * There will be a reduction in delay discounting for children

Primary Outcome

Height (cm) and weight (lbs) will be assessed to calculate BMI (kg/m\^2) for parents. Change will be assessed at baseline, week 8, 11 and 15 from baseline.

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL Episodic Future Thinking Group