Relationships, Emotion, and Eating: Dynamic Systems Investigation of Weight Gain

描述（由申请人提供）：尽管进行了广泛的研究和干预努力，超重的美国人的比例继续攀升，使很大一部分人口处于慢性疾病的风险之中。这种失败的一个原因可能是传统的研究不太适合解决导致一个人超重的因素的动态复杂性。本研究接受了这一挑战，并采用动态系统的方法来测试一个模型，该模型预测了新成立的家庭中关系动态，情绪和自主生理对饮食，活动和短期体重增加的综合影响。在婚姻的最初几年，夫妻建立了共同的饮食和活动习惯，这些习惯随后将传给他们的孩子。阻断肥胖症的流行需要研究夫妻如何发展共同的肥胖相关行为。这些机制适合行为干预，但开发此类干预措施的一个关键挑战是我们对这些因素如何相互作用缺乏了解。我们的模型的基本前提是，围绕饮食和活动的夫妻行为和情绪模式提供了维持饮食和活动习惯的近端力量，并对体重产生了相应的影响。我们专注于两种模式，吸烟和酒精成瘾的研究表明，这两种模式对维持不健康的行为很重要。第一个，系统症状拟合（SSF），指的是一种不健康的行为，比如暴饮暴食，通过增加积极的情绪或夫妻亲密度来帮助保持关系的幸福感（Rohrbaugh，Shoham，巴特勒，哈斯勒，&伯曼，2009; Shoham，巴特勒，Rohrbaugh，& Trost，2007）。第二种模式，需求撤回（DW），发生在一方要求改变另一方的健康行为时，这导致“唠叨”的伴侣退出互动并抵制改变（Eldridge，Sevier，Jones，阿特金斯，& Christensen，2007）。我们建议，SSF或DW在新成立的夫妇的存在将预测6个月后体重增加和健康习惯恶化。为了验证我们的假设，我们将招募100对同居一年内的异性恋夫妇。所有受试者在研究开始时均处于健康体重范围的上限。因此，他们将面临超重的风险。基线时SSF和DW的多方法评估将用于预测6个月后饮食/活动习惯和体重的变化。这个项目有潜力 由于整合了传统上分离的科学和临床社区，并通过阐述动态系统方法来解决肥胖问题，因此产生了广泛的影响。因此，它可以为来自不同背景的研究人员和临床医生提供理论基础。此外，该研究的结果将为研究和实践提供信息，这些研究和实践涉及整合家庭系统，情绪调节和生物反馈方法以了解和治疗肥胖的最佳，有针对性的方法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite extensive research and intervention efforts the percentage of overweight Americans has continued to climb, putting a large segment of the population at risk for chronic disease. One reason for this failure may be that traditional research is not well suited for tackling the dynamic complexity of factors that result in a person becoming overweight. The present study takes up this challenge and adopts a dynamic systems approach to test a model that predicts the combined effects of relationship dynamics, emotions, and autonomic physiology on eating, activity, and short term weight gain in newly formed families. During the early years of marriage couples establish shared eating and activity habits that will subsequently be passed on to their children. Interrupting the obesity epidemic requires research focused on how couples develop shared obesity relevant behaviors. These mechanisms are amenable to behavioral intervention, but a key challenge for developing such interventions is our lack of understanding about how these factors interact. The basic premise of our model is that couple-level behavioral and emotional patterns focused around eating and activity provides proximal forces perpetuating eating and activity habits, with accompanying effects on body weight. We focus on two patterns that research on smoking and alcohol addiction suggests are important for maintaining unhealthy behaviors. The first, System-Symptom Fit (SSF), refers to an unhealthy behavior, such as excessive eating, helping to preserve relationship well-being by increasing positive emotion or couple closeness (Rohrbaugh, Shoham, Butler, Hasler, & Berman, 2009; Shoham, Butler, Rohrbaugh, & Trost, 2007). The second pattern, Demand-Withdraw (DW), occurs when one partner demands change in the other partner's health behaviors, which causes the "nagged" partner to withdraw from the interaction and to resist change (Eldridge, Sevier, Jones, Atkins, & Christensen, 2007). We propose that the presence of SSF or DW in newly formed couples will predict increases in weight and deteriorating health habits 6 months later. To test our hypotheses we will recruit 100 heterosexual couples who are within the first year of cohabiting. All participants will be in the upper-end of the healthy weight range at the beginning of the study. As such, they will be at risk of becoming overweight. Multi-method assessments of SSF and DW at baseline will be used to predict changes in eating/activity habits and weight 6 months later. This project has the potential for broad impact due to integrating across traditionally separate scientific and clinical communities, and by articulating a dynamic systems approach to the problem of obesity. As such, it could provide a theoretical basis for researchers and clinicians from diverse backgrounds. In addition, results from the study would inform research and practice regarding optimal, targeted ways to integrate family systems, emotion regulation, and biofeedback approaches to understanding and treating obesity.