Husband involvement in the behavioral treatment of overweight women: initial effects and long-term follow-up.

This study investigated whether husband participation would augment the effectieness of the Sturart & Davis (1972) weight-reduction program for 37 obese women. Following a five-week baseline period, participants were taught behavioral weight-control techniques in eight 90-minute sessions over a 16-week period. Random assignment was made to conditions that required husbands to participate in all treatment sessions, the first four sessions, or not at all. Results indicated that although women in all three conditions lost significant amounts of weight and developed more adaptive eating habits, husband involvement fostered reliably greater weight loss, which was maintained through a six-week post-treatment assessment. Participant husbands became more accurate observers of changes in their wives' eating habits and were viewed as being more helpful than were noninvolved husbands. A three-year follow-up indicated that the wives had maintained their initial weight losses and reported changes in eating habits, while the effects engendered by husband involvement had dissipated.