This study evaluated the effectiveness of four posttreatment programs designed to enhance the longterm maintenance of weight loss. Mildly and moderately obese adults (N = 123) were randomly assigned to one of the following five conditions: (a) behavior therapy only; (b) behavior therapy plus a posttreatment therapist-contact maintenance program; (c) behavior therapy plus posttreatment therapist contact plus a social influence maintenance program; (d) behavior therapy plus posttreatment therapist contact plus an aerobic exercise maintenance program; or (e) behavior therapy plus posttreatment therapist contact plus both the aerobic exercise and social influence maintenance programs. All posttreatment programs were conducted in 26 biweekly sessions during the year following behavioral treatment for obesity. At an 18-month follow-up evaluation, all four conditions thai combined behavior therapy with a posttreatmem maintenance program yielded significantly greater long-term weight losses than behavior therapy alone. The tendency for obese people to regain the weight they have lost in treatment represents an important clinical and research problem. After treatment, obese clients frequently abandon weight loss techniques, experience relapses, and regain weight (Bennett, 1986; Foreyt, 1987; Perri, 1987). In a review of recent behavioral programs for obesity, Brownell and Wadden (1986) calculated that, during the year following treatment, participants on average regained 36% of the weight they had lost initially. These findings have led reviewers of the obesity treatment literature such as Jeffery (1987) to conclude that "the most pressing continuing challenge is maintaining weight loss. .. obesity should be viewed as a chronic condition requiring longterm supportive care" (p. 20). Booster sessions, monetary contracts, ongoing support groups, and mail and telephone follow-ups have been evaluated as potential remedies to the maintenance problem. Empirical support for the effectiveness of these procedures has been equivocal (e.g., Kramer, Jeffery. Snell, & Forster, 1986; Perri et al., 1987). More promising findings have been obtained with multifaceted maintenance programs that have included frequent therapist contacts coupled with training targeted to the specific This research was supported in part by a Veterans Administration

The tendency for clients to regain the weight they have lost in therapy represents an important problem in the behavioral treatment of obesity. This experiment evaluated two strategies for enhancing maintenance: relapse prevention training and posttreatment client-therapist contact by mail and telephone. Moderately obese volunteers (n = 129) who averaged 57% over ideal weight were randomly assigned to one of six experimental conditions in a 3 X 2 factorial design. Three treatment conditions (nonbehavioral therapy, behavior therapy, or behavior therapy plus relapse prevention training) were crossed with two posttreatment conditions (posttreatment client-therapist contact by telephone and mail, or no posttreatment contact). All treatments produced substantial initial weight losses (M = 18.66 Ib, or 8.5 kg), but subjects tended to regain weight during the follow-up period. Posttreatment client-therapist contact by mail and telephone significantly enhanced the maintenance of weight loss for groups that received nonbehavioral treatment or behavior therapy plus relapse prevention training, but it did not improve maintenance for groups that received behavior therapy only. At the 12-month follow-up session, the only condition that maintained its mean posttreatment weight loss was the one that received behavior therapy plus relapse prevention training and posttreatment contact.In recent years, the limitations of behavior time of long-term follow-up sessions, many therapy for obesity have become increasingly have regained much of the weight they lost in apparent (cf.

This study tested whether the efficacy of behavior therapy for obesity might be improved by the programmatic additions of an aerobic exercise regimen during treatment and a multicomponent maintenance program following treatment. Moderately obese volunteers were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 X 2 factorial design. Two treatment conditions (behavior therapy or behavior therapy plus aerobic exercise) were crossed with two posttreatment conditions (no further contact or a multicomponent maintenance program). The exercise regimen consisted of 80 min per week of brisk walking or stationary cycling. The maintenance program included client-therapist contact by telephone and mail and peer self-help group meetings. At posttreatment, clients in the behavior therapy plus aerobic exercise condition lost significantly more weight than those who received behavior therapy only. Over an 18-month follow-up period, maintenance program participants demonstrated significantly better weight-loss progress than clients in the no-further-contact condition.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of two posttreatment programs designed to enhance the maintenance of weight loss. Eighty-five obese clients were randomly assigned to either (a) behavior therapy plus a peer-support maintenance program, (b) behavior therapy plus a therapist-contact maintenance program, or (c) behavior therapy only. At a 7-month follow-up session, the therapist-contact program resulted in significantly greater maintenance of weight loss compared with the peer support and behavior therapy only conditions. However, by the time of an 18-month follow-up assessment, overall relapse rates were equivalent across conditions.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a multicomponent program designed to enhance the maintenance of weight loss. Following a standard regimen of behavioral weight loss treatment, 43 moderately obese clients received either (a) six booster sessions or (b) six sessions of training in the use of a maintenance program consisting of self-help group meetings and client-therapist contacts by mail and telephone. The results of 15-and 21-month follow-up assessments revealed that the multicomponent program significantly enhanced the maintenance of weight loss.