Psychological Factors in Weight Loss Following Bariatric Surgery

Purpose: The authors\u27 aim in this study was to gain insight on the psychological risk factors related to weight loss following bariatric surgery. Method: The authors used archival data of 137 participants who underwent both a psychological pre-assessment and bariatric surgery and attended a post-operative appointment at least six months following surgery. The factors examined at the psychological pre-assessment included alcohol abuse, smoking, exercise, binge eating, depression, stress, social support, dieting history, and history of sexual abuse. These factors were examined in relation to weight loss success defined as 50% loss of excess weight at follow-up. Main Findings: No significant relationships were found between weight loss success and the predictor variables. Conclusions: The researchers evaluated the present study results in relation to previous literature on bariatric surgery. Several limitations were evaluated, including examiner bias, participant population, and the assessment tool used. Areas of future research included examining alcohol consumption, exercise behavior, and binging and purging after surgery