The “ACT-ive” pursuit of loss and gain: The impact of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based intervention on post weight-loss surgery individuals

Obesity prevalence continues to increase at an alarming rate worldwide and poses serious health risks to those affected including increased morbidity, mortality, and psychosocial consequences. Weight-loss surgery is currently the best evidence-based treatment for obesity, yet substantial postoperative weight regain is reported within 2-5 years. Successful weight management is complicated when longstanding psychological difficulties are present; these often require psychological input to address.In response, a private weight-loss surgery clinic developed an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based (ACT) Intervention entitled the Foundations of Healthy Living (FOHL) Retreat with the aim of improving weight-loss surgery outcomes by providing greater support to individuals in the post-operative period.A quasi-experimental pretest posttest non-equivalent control group design was utilised to investigate the impacts of the intervention on weight-related experiential avoidance, eating behaviour, and body mass index (BMI) among 87 individuals over time.ACT-based intervention demonstrated significant effects on disordered eating (β = - 0.11) and BMI (β = - 0.06). These effects were mediated by improvements in weight-related experiential avoidance, suggesting the importance of focussing on targeting experiential avoidance as a key mechanism of change in postoperative psychological outcomes and weight.Study findings highlight firstly, the importance of addressing the psychological needs of weight-loss surgery individuals, and secondly, the value of ACT in augmenting surgical outcomes. The study concludes by offering suggestions for further development and future dissemination of such interventions for this population.