ArticleBritish journal of health psychology2025
Hope and behavioural weight loss: Pathways lead to greater weight loss than agency or goals.
Article in British journal of health psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Hope and behavioural weight loss: Pathways lead to greater weight loss than agency or goals.British journal of health psychology · 2025Article
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3 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundHope is a motivational state comprised of agency (internal drive), pathways (perceived external means), and goals (future targets) that may predict weight loss, but evidence is limited. This study examined hope and its subscales (agency, pathways, goals) as predictors of weight loss in a behavioural treatment.
methodAdults (n = 107) with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 27 participated in a 6-month weight loss program with 12-month follow-up. Hope and its subscales were assessed at baseline using the Adult Hope Scale-Revised (HSR-2). Percent weight lost (%WL) was calculated for post-treatment (n = 70) and follow-up (n = 61). Covariates included positive affect, gratitude, optimism, age, sex, education, BMI, and adverse childhood experiences. Linear regressions tested the relationship between HSR-2 total and subscales with %WL at post-treatment and follow-up, adjusting for covariates. Complete case and intention-to-treat analyses with multiply imputed data were conducted.
resultsComplete case analyses showed HSR-2 total scores predicted greater %WL (β = .16, p = .001 post-treatment; β = .29, p = .003 follow-up). This effect was driven by pathways (β = .63, p = .001 post-treatment; β = 1.02, p < .001 follow-up), with agency and goals unrelated to %WL (ps ≥ .353). Gratitude inversely related to %WL (β = -.82, p = .001 post-treatment; β = -.78, p = .020 follow-up). Among the intention-to-treat sample, HSR-2 total trended towards follow-up %WL (β = .14, p = .062); pathways predicted at both timepoints (β = .32, p = .047 post-treatment; β = .59, p = .001 follow-up).
conclusionHigher pathways thinking, a component of hope, predicted clinically significant weight loss and weight maintenance. Lower gratitude may predict weight loss (among completers), suggesting dissatisfaction with one's current state, combined with a belief in pathways to a better future, drove greater weight loss.
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