Ori Community And Evaluation Services

BIOBEHAVIORAL REWARD RESPONSES ASSOCIATED WITH CONSUMPTION OF NUTRITIONALLY DIVERSE ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT MY CAREER GOAL IS TO DEVELOP AN INDEPENDENT RESEARCH PROGRAM THAT UTILIZES A COMPREHENSIVE, MULTI-METHOD APPROACH TO INVESTIGATE MECHANISMS BY WHICH ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS (UPFS) DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TO OVEREATING AND OBESITY. MY TRAINING AS A CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST HAS PROVIDED ME WITH A STRONG FOUNDATION IN UNDERSTANDING BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES THAT MAY CONTRIBUTE TO OVEREATING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN PROBLEMATIC EATING BEHAVIOR. HOWEVER, I HAVE HAD NO FORMAL TRAINING IN BIOLOGICAL UNDERPINNINGS THAT MAY DRIVE UPF CONSUMPTION AND AM SEEKING ADVANCED TRAINING IN EVALUATING REWARD PROCESSES AND IDENTIFYING BEHAVIORAL PHENOTYPES WITHIN OBESITY. MY TRAINING PLAN WILL BUILD UPON MY SKILLSETS AND EXPAND MY KNOWLEDGE IN THREE AREAS: 1) ADAPTING METHODS USED TO IDENTIFY THE REINFORCING INGREDIENTS OF REWARDING SUBSTANCES TO ASSESS WHICH ATTRIBUTES OF UPFS CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR HIGH REWARD POTENTIAL; 2) INVESTIGATING BIOLOGICAL MARKERS OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN FOOD REWARD AND PHYSIOLOGICAL AND METABOLIC RESPONSES TO UPF CONSUMPTION; AND 3) IDENTIFYING BEHAVIORAL PHENOTYPES WITHIN OBESITY IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND DIFFERENTIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY TO UPF REWARD. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THESE OBJECTIVES, I WILL ENGAGE IN A VARIETY OF TRAINING ACTIVITIES, GUIDED BY MY MENTORSHIP TEAM, INCLUDING REGULAR SUPERVISION MEETINGS, DIRECTED READINGS, ATTENDANCE AT CLASSES, SEMINARS, AND SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES, AND IN-LAB METHODOLOGICAL TRAINING. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL USE A WITHIN-SUBJECTS DESIGN TO ADDRESS THESE TRAINING GOALS BY EVALUATING DIFFERENCES IN BIOBEHAVIORAL REWARD RESPONSES TO UPFS HIGH IN BOTH FAT + REFINED CARBOHYDRATES, COMPARED TO UPFS HIGH IN FAT ONLY OR REFINED CARBOHYDRATES ONLY OR MINIMALLY PROCESSED FOODS. PARTICIPANTS WILL EACH ATTEND FOUR FOOD CONSUMPTION APPOINTMENTS, ONE FOR EACH AFOREMENTIONED FOOD TYPE, WHERE SUBJECTIVE INDICES OF REWARD AND METABOLIC RESPONSES WILL BE ASSESSED WHILE ANTICIPATING AND EATING THE FOOD. THE PRESENT WORK IS THE FIRST TO ELUCIDATE THE BIOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL EXPERIENCES OF CONSUMING NUTRITIONALLY DIVERSE UPFS THAT MAY MECHANISTICALLY CONTRIBUTE TO OVEREATING. UNDERSTANDING WHICH INGREDIENTS IN UPFS ARE MOST REINFORCING AND THE BIOBEHAVIORAL UNDERPINNINGS WILL INFORM NOVEL INTERVENTION TARGETS FOR WEIGHT MANAGEMENT AND PROBLEMATIC EATING BEHAVIOR. THE ENVIRONMENT AT THE CENTER FOR WEIGHT, EATING, AND LIFESTYLE SCIENCE AND STATE-OF-THE-ART COURSEWORK AND SEMINARS AT DREXEL UNIVERSITY ARE IDEAL FOR MY TRAINING GOALS. MY MENTORSHIP TEAM WILL BE LED BY DR. EVAN FORMAN (PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES; DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR WEIGHT, EATING, AND LIFESTYLE SCIENCE) AND INCLUDES TRAINING FROM DR. KELLY ALLISON (PROFESSOR, WEIGHT AND EATING DISORDERS) IN THE BIOLOGICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF FOOD REWARD AND DR. JANET AUDRAIN-MCGOVERN (PROFESSOR, ADDICTIONS) IN METHODOLOGY USED TO ASSESS THE REINFORCING NATURE OF SUBSTANCES. THIS INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM WILL FACILITATE SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH AND TRAINING PLAN AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN R01 APPLICATION BASED ON THE FINDINGS FROM THE PRESENT WORK.

PEST POPULATION SUPPRESSION, REPLACEMENT AND RESISTANCE, GENE DRIVES, AND POLICY PREFERENCES

TESTING JUST-IN-TIME ADAPTIVE INTERVENTIONS (JITAIS) TO PREVENT GOAL DISENGAGEMENT IN RESPONSE TO WEIGHT REGAIN FOLLOWING BEHAVIORAL WEIGHT LOSS TREATMENT - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT WEIGHT REGAIN AFTER BEHAVIORAL WEIGHT LOSS (BWL) TREATMENT IS EXTREMELY COMMON AND A MAJOR BARRIER TO HEALTHY WEIGHT CONTROL. FOLLOWING BWL TREATMENT, PARTICIPANTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SELF-WEIGH DAILY AND IMMEDIATELY TAKE ACTION TO REVERSE SMALL WEIGHT REGAINS BEFORE THEY CAN ESCALATE. HOWEVER, RESEARCH CONTINUALLY SHOWS THAT, WHEN PARTICIPANTS NOTICE A SMALL WEIGHT REGAIN, THEY RARELY ATTEMPT TO ACTIVELY ADDRESS IT; INSTEAD, THEY TEND TO AVOID THE BEHAVIORS NECESSARY TO REVERSE THE GAIN. EXISTING WEIGHT LOSS MAINTENANCE PROGRAMS ATTEMPT TO PROVIDE GREATER SUPPORT FOR REVERSING SMALL WEIGHT GAINS, TYPICALLY BY DEPLOYING STANDARD BWL STRATEGIES (E.G., GOAL SETTING, PROBLEM SOLVING) WHENEVER PARTICIPANTS HIT A CERTAIN “RED ZONE” WEIGHT (>5 POUNDS ABOVE THEIR CURRENT WEIGHT). YET, THESE PROGRAMS ACHIEVE MINIMAL OR NO SUCCESS. RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT STANDARD BWL STRATEGIES ARE INSUFFICIENT FOR HELPING PARTICIPANTS REVERSE SMALL WEIGHT REGAINS BECAUSE REGAIN IS DEMORALIZING AND DISTRESSING FOR PARTICIPANTS, CAUSING THEM TO DISENGAGE FROM THEIR WEIGHT CONTROL GOALS. MY OWN ECOLOGICAL MOMENTARY ASSESSMENT (EMA) RESEARCH SHOWS THAT PARTICIPANTS ENROLLED IN BWL TREATMENT EXPERIENCED GREATER FRUSTRATION, GREATER SHAME, AND LOWER CONFIDENCE IN CONTROLLING THEIR WEIGHT ON DAYS THAT THEY GAINED WEIGHT, WHICH LED TO POORER ADHERENCE TO THEIR WEIGHT CONTROL BEHAVIORS THAT DAY. TO PREVENT GOAL DISENGAGEMENT, INTERVENTIONS MUST HELP PARTICIPANTS COPE WITH THE DISTRESS AND DEMORALIZATION OF WEIGHT REGAIN. PSYCHOLOGICAL STRATEGIES OF MINDFULNESS, ACCEPTANCE, AND SELF-COMPASSION (MASC) ARE COMMONLY USED IN THERAPEUTIC FRAMEWORKS DESIGNED TO HELP PEOPLE COPE WITH DISTRESS (E.G., ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY), AND MAY BE AN ESPECIALLY GOOD FIT FOR PROMOTING ADAPTIVE RESPONSES TO WEIGHT REGAIN. TO MAXIMIZE THEIR EFFECTIVENESS, THESE STRATEGIES MUST BE ADMINISTERED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PARTICIPANT EXPERIENCES WEIGHT REGAIN, BEFORE THE CYCLE OF WEIGHT REGAIN AND DISENGAGEMENT BECOMES ENTRENCHED. JUST-IN- TIME ADAPTIVE INTERVENTIONS (JITAIS) CAN DEPLOY THESE INTERVENTIONS IN THE MOMENTS AFTER A WEIGH-IN, AS SOON AS THE PARTICIPANT STARTS TO DISENGAGE. THE PROPOSED STUDY TESTS THE FEASIBILITY, ACCEPTABILITY, AND EFFECTIVENESS OF JITAIS THAT USE BOTH STANDARD BEHAVIORAL WEIGHT LOSS STRATEGIES AND MASC STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE ADAPTIVE RESPONSES TO WEIGHT REGAIN. ADULTS (N=120) WHO HAVE LOST AT LEAST 5% OF THEIR WEIGHT DURING BWL TREATMENT WILL BE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO A JITAI CONDITION OR AN ACTIVE CONTROL (AC) CONDITION. ALL PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ASKED TO WEIGH THEMSELVES DAILY. THOSE IN THE JITAI CONDITION WILL RECEIVE JITAIS IMMEDIATELY AFTER WEIGH-INS THAT SHOW WEIGHT GAIN, OR ON MORNINGS THEY SKIP THE WEIGH-IN. IT EXPECTED THAT, COMPARED TO THE AC CONDITION, PARTICIPANTS IN THE JITAI CONDITION WILL HAVE IMPROVED IMMEDIATE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES TO WEIGHT REGAIN (OR A MISSED WEIGH-IN) AND ULTIMATELY, IMPROVED WEIGHT LOSS MAINTENANCE IN THE SIX MONTHS FOLLOWING BWL TREATMENT.