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AzTrials

ObesityActivateNCT04337619

Project Activate: Mindfulness and Acceptance Based Behavioral Treatment for Weight Loss

A study testing Behavioral Treatment, Willingness and Values in people with Obesity and Weight Loss, run by Drexel University at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Mindfulness and Acceptance based Behavioral Therapies (MABTs) are among the most promising behavioral approaches for obesity, with two recent large trials showing that they achieve better initial weight loss and/or better weight loss maintenance than does gold standard behavioral weight loss treatment (BT). Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 70 years
Conditions the study is for
Obesity, Weight Loss
What is being tested?
Behavioral Treatment, Willingness and Values
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
276 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
15 Aug 2019to 7 Nov 2024
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 70 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Individuals must be of overweight or obese BMI (27-50 kg/m2)
  • Individuals must be adults (aged 18-70)
  • Completion of a 3-day food diary
  • Completion of baseline assessment tasks
  • Willingness to lose weight, be physically active, and participate in-group sessions.
  • Participants must also provide consent for the research team to contact their personal physician if necessary to provide clearance or to consult about rapid weight gain.

Who cannot join

  • Inability to engage in physical activity (defined as walking a city block without stopping)
  • Medical or psychiatric condition that may pose a risk to the participant during intervention, cause a change in weight, or limit ability to comply with the program
  • Recently began or changed the dose of a medication that can cause significant change in weight
  • History of bariatric surgery; weight loss of > 5% in the previous 3 months
  • Currently pregnant or breastfeeding or planning to become pregnant
  • Planning to, or participating in, another weight loss treatment in the next 3 years.
  • Engaging in compensatory vomiting, other severe compensatory behaviors, or more than 12 of any compensatory behavior in the previous 3 months
  • Experiencing significant loss of control eating (9 or more binge episodes in the previous 3 months)

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • Drexel University Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Science

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Mindfulness and Acceptance Based Behavioral Treatment for Weight Loss

Mindfulness and Acceptance based Behavioral Therapies (MABTs) are among the most promising behavioral approaches for obesity, with two recent large trials showing that they achieve better initial weight loss and/or better weight loss maintenance than does gold standard behavioral weight loss treatment (BT). However, results vary, potentially due to inconsistencies in how MABT components are utilized and emphasized. Optimizing MABTs using a typical approach, i.e., successive randomized controlled trials of various MABT packages, is slow and difficult. Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) has been developed as a better method of optimizing treatment. Consistent with Phase I of MOST, we derived three MABT components from the theoretical literature. Evaluation of MABT components through a factorial design (MOST Phase II) will allow us to determine the independent and interacting efficacies of each MABT component, in addition to the identification of subsets of individuals most or least responsive to each component. Whereas mediational analyses have been inconclusive, the use of a factorial design will allow for a critical test of the main and interaction effects of individual MABT treatment components. The current study will use a full factorial design to identify the independent and combined effects of three core MABT components (Awareness, Acceptance, and Values Clarity) as additions to remotely delivered weight loss counseling. Moderators of treatment outcome (disinhibited eating, food cue susceptibility, emotional eating, delay discounting, and inhibitory control), and mediator/process variables implicated in MABTs (mindful eating, acceptance of food cues, mindfulness, body responsiveness, autonomous motivation, values clarity, hunger/satiety perceptions, and motivation and pleasure resulting from social functioning) will be assessed as well.

Conditions
Obesity, Weight Loss
Being tested
Behavioral Treatment, Willingness, Values, Mindful Awareness
Keywords
Obesity, Weight Loss, Behavioral treatment, Acceptance-based behavioral weight loss treatment, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Multiphase Optimization Strategy
Medical subject headings
Obesity, Weight Loss

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Behavioral TreatmentBehavioural

    Standard Behavioral Weight Loss Treatment (remotely delivered)

  • WillingnessBehavioural

    Integration of acceptance and willingness skills into Standard Behavioral Weight Loss Treatment (remotely delivered).

  • ValuesBehavioural

    Integration of values clarification and awareness skills into Standard Behavioral Weight Loss Treatment (remotely delivered).

  • Mindful AwarenessBehavioural

    Integration of mindfulness and present-moment awareness skills into Standard Behavioral Weight Loss Treatment (remotely delivered).

Study groups in NCT04337619
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Standard Behavioral Weight Loss TreatmentExperimentalNot described
Receives: Behavioral: Behavioral Treatment
Behavioral + WillingnessExperimentalNot described
Receives: Behavioral: Behavioral Treatment; Behavioral: Willingness
Behavioral + ValuesExperimentalNot described
Receives: Behavioral: Behavioral Treatment; Behavioral: Values
Behavioral + Mindful AwarenessExperimentalNot described
Receives: Behavioral: Behavioral Treatment; Behavioral: Mindful Awareness
Behavioral + Willingness + ValuesExperimentalNot described
Receives: Behavioral: Behavioral Treatment; Behavioral: Willingness; Behavioral: Values
Behavioral + Willingness + AwarenessExperimentalNot described
Receives: Behavioral: Behavioral Treatment; Behavioral: Willingness; Behavioral: Mindful Awareness
Behavioral + Values + AwarenessExperimentalNot described
Receives: Behavioral: Behavioral Treatment; Behavioral: Values; Behavioral: Mindful Awareness
Behavioral + Willingness + Values + AwarenessExperimentalNot described
Receives: Behavioral: Behavioral Treatment; Behavioral: Willingness; Behavioral: Values; Behavioral: Mindful Awareness

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Weight Change

    Measured at home using a standardized weighing procedure. Participants will be weighed in lightweight clothes without shoes using a standardized bluetooth scale accurate to 0.1 kg.

    Measured: Measured at baseline, mid-treatment (6 months), post-treatment (12 months), and at 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up (i.e., at 0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months).

Secondary outcomes (3)
  1. Dietary Intake

    Dietary intake was recorded on the popular mobile application MyFitnessPal.

    Measured: Measured at baseline, mid-treatment (6 months), post-treatment (12 months) (i.e., at 0, 6, and 12 months).

  2. Physical Activity

    Measured in minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) using one wrist-worn activity tracker including Fitbit Charge 2, 3, 4, and 5.

    Measured: Measured at baseline, mid-treatment (6 months), post-treatment (12 months), and at 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up (i.e., at 0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months).

  3. Quality of Life Score

    Measured using the Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI). The min and max values are 1 and 18. Higher scores mean a better outcome.

    Measured: Measured at baseline, mid-treatment (6 months), post-treatment (12 months), and at 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up (i.e., at 0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months).

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted7 Apr 2020
  2. Study start15 Aug 2019
  3. Primary completion7 Nov 2024
  4. Study completion7 Nov 2024

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Factorial
Masking
Double blind
Who is masked
Participant, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
276 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04337619
Sponsor's protocol ID
R01DK119658
Acronym
Activate
Status last verified
Mar 2026
First submitted
25 Feb 2020
Last updated
14 Oct 2026
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Crochiere RJ, Fitzgerald DT, Butryn ML, Zhang F, Beaulieu K, Maher JP, Huang Z, Cong C, Forman EM. Moderators of the relation between physical activity and subsequent energy intake among behavioral weight loss participants. Health Psychol. 2026 Mar 5:10.1037/hea0001597. doi: 10.1037/hea0001597. Online ahead of print.

    PubMed 41785111
  • Chabria R, Hagerman CJ, Crane N, Ehmann M, Knudsen FM, Brown KL, Forman E, Butryn ML. Racial disparities in the efficacy of traditional versus acceptance-based behavioral weight loss. Health Psychol. 2026 Feb;45(2):197-205. doi: 10.1037/hea0001537. Epub 2025 Jul 24.

    PubMed 40705619
  • Crochiere RJ, Butryn ML, Zhang F, Beaulieu K, Maher JP, Huang Z, Cong C, Forman EM. Intraday relations between physical activity and energy intake among behavioral weight loss participants. Health Psychol. 2024 May;43(5):376-387. doi: 10.1037/hea0001358. Epub 2024 Jan 8.

    PubMed 38190202

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Behavioral Treatment, Willingness and Values in people with Obesity and Weight Loss, run by Drexel University at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 6 inclusion and 8 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 14 Oct 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 11 Mar 2026). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Weight Change (time frame: Measured at baseline, mid-treatment (6 months), post-treatment (12 months), and at 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up (i.e., at 0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months).). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04337619, which also lists 3 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 14 Oct 2026.

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