Abstract P251: Triggers of Temptations and Urges Do Not Change During a 12-Month Behavioral Intervention for Weight Loss

Abstract

Introduction: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) assesses individuals’ behaviors and moods as they occur in their natural environment. We examined self-reported triggers of temptations/urges to eat and compared percent of times each trigger was reported as the top trigger in the 1st 6 mos. vs. the 2nd 6 mos. of a standard behavioral weight loss intervention. Hypothesis: The distribution of self-reported triggers of urges/temptations changes over time. Methods: We provided participants a smartphone app programmed to permit them to self-initiate completing EMA and report temptations/urges in real time. Questions included: What were the triggers for the temptation/urge? What was the top trigger? Only data from subjects reporting ≥ one urge/temptation were included in the analysis. For each trigger, generalized estimating equations were used to fit logistic regression models to test the hypothesis that proportion of urges/temptations including that trigger did not change between the 1st and 2 nd 6 mos. of EMA surveillance. Results: The sample ( N = 139) was 90.6% female, 82.7% White, 50.9±10.10 years of age with a BMI of 34.2±4.6 kg/m2. There were 3175 reported episodes of temptation/urges. During both 6-mo.periods, sight/smell of food was the most frequently reported trigger occurring in 34.8% of temptations/urges in the first 6 mos., increasing to 35.52% in the second 6-mos. This was followed by stress, hunger/thirst, and habit during both 6-mo. periods. There were no significant differences in the frequency or type of triggers over time, except for “out of nowhere”, which occurred less often in the second period (6.98% vs. 5.42%, p = .02). The triggers are plotted in order of most to least frequent for both periods in the figure below. Conclusions: Fewer temptations/urges were reported in the second 6 mos., which likely is attributed to a decrease in compliance by participants to EMA protocols. The sight/smell of food remained the most frequently reported trigger, which is a concern in an environment that is very food centric.