Habitual Behavior as a Mediator Between Food-Related Behavioral Activation and Change in Symptoms of Depression in the MooDFOOD Trial

In this study, we tested potential mediators that may explain change in depressive symptoms following exposure to a food-related behavioral activation intervention (F-BA). These included behavioral activation, avoidance and rumination, eating styles, body mass index, and dietary behavior at baseline...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Owens, Matthew, Watkins, Ed, Bot, Mariska, Brouwer, Ingeborg A., Roca, Miquel, Kohls, Elisabeth, Penninx, Brenda W. J. H., van Grootheest, Gerard, Hegerl, Ulrich, Gili, Margalida, Visser, Marjolein, MooDFOOD Prevention Trial Investig
Format: article
Publication Date:2021
Country:España
Institution:Conselleria de Salut i Consum del Govern de les Illes Balears
Repository:Docusalut
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:docusalut.com:20.500.13003/19614
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13003/19614
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:depression
prevention
behavioral activation
habits
eating styles
Description
Summary:In this study, we tested potential mediators that may explain change in depressive symptoms following exposure to a food-related behavioral activation intervention (F-BA). These included behavioral activation, avoidance and rumination, eating styles, body mass index, and dietary behavior at baseline and 3-month and 12-month follow-up. The trial used a community sample of 1,025 overweight adults with elevated depressive symptoms without current major depression. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four trial arms: either daily nutritional supplements (vs. placebo) alone or in combination with F-BA (vs. no F-BA) over 12 months. Although F-BA did not significantly reduce depressive symptoms (standardized regression coefficient [b] = -0.223, SE = 0.129; p = .084), significant mediators included emotional eating (b = -0.028, SE = 0.014; p = .042) and uncontrolled eating (b = -0.039, SE = 0.016; p = .013), suggesting that learning adaptive responses to emotional and food cues may underlie effects of F-BA on depressive symptoms.