Ending Prematurely a Weight Loss Programme: The Impact of Child and Family Characteristics

The present study evaluates the pre-treatment child and family characteristics as well as the parental motives and experienced barriers when ending prematurely a weight loss programme for their obese child, in accordance with the 'barriers-to-treatment model' and subsequent research on dimensions underlying treatment termination decision. Treatment seeking youngsters (n = 72) with a mean of 10.46 years (SD = 2.56) were followed over a 1-year period. Dropout, child and family characteristics were measured both during assessment and treatment. The 'barriers-to-treatment' data were collected at the 1-year follow-up via mail (response rate = 65%; n = 47). Results showed that dropout could be successfully predicted at intake by age, psychopathology in the child and motivation of the parents. Results indicated further that there are few differences in total barriers score between completers and non-completers. Item content analysis revealed two themes that were more often reported by non-completers (appointment arrangements and perceived relevance of treatment). The hypothesis that non-completers (compared to completers) experienced more barriers that burden their willingness to continue a weight loss programme could not be confirmed. Besides demographic characteristics, specifically motivation of the parents at intake seems an important area for future research. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message: Families non-completing a treatment suffer from a greater burden due to psychological problems in their child. Regarding the decision to start a treatment, specifically pre-treatment, motivation and expectations of parents will play a crucial role. 47% of the families ended prematurely while their children still suffer from overwight, fueling our assumption that dropping out in treatment is a serious problem and comprises a substantial group of people not studied yet in detail. The hypothesis that non-completers (compared to completers) experienced more barriers that burden their willingness to continue a weight loss program could not be confirmed.