STORRS, Conn. — It makes a certain amount of sense for couples to embark on a weight loss journey together. It should be easier to resist caloric temptations and cultivate consistent gym motivation with one’s partner in tow, right? Not necessarily, according to researchers from the University of Connecticut. In fact, study authors did not find any social influence at all between couples when it came to factors like self-control or “grit,” both of which have a link to better weight loss and weight maintenance outcomes.
Importantly, however, this project did highlight that on an individual level positive behavioral changes are quite possible with the right interventions. In other words, while you may not be able to count on your partner’s tendencies to change yours, everyone is capable of breaking bad habits on their own.
This study was led by Amy Gorin, professor of psychological sciences and vice provost for health sciences and interdisciplinary initiatives, as well as Tricia Leahey, professor of allied health sciences in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources and director of InCHIP.
Even before this work, though, prior studies suggested both self-control and grit (the capacity to persevere toward long-term goals) have a link to improved weight loss/management outcomes. However, earlier studies did not assess this phenomenon specifically among couples, especially with an emphasis on weight management habits.
“We wanted to see if there was any sort of effect of couples,” says Prof. Leahy, who is also director of InCHIP, in a university release. “That is, do partners have similar levels of self-control? And, does self-control change similarly in couples over time when they’re in a weight loss program?”
This study lasted a full year, including a six-month intervention period followed by a reassessment after another six months had passed among all 64 participating couples.
The participants had to fill out a series of surveys assessing their levels of self-control and grit, both at the beginning and end of the study. The questionnaires asked them to indicate to what extent they felt statements such as “I am good at resisting temptation” or “setbacks don’t discourage me” applied to them.
Meanwhile, participants were also introduced to a behavioral weight loss intervention aimed at decreasing their daily calorie intake and increasing physical activity all while instilling behavioral skills that promote positive change like goal setting and stimulus control.
By the end of the study, researchers discovered no couple effect at all. Couples didn’t begin with similar levels of self-control or grit, and, if one member of a couple improved either their grit or self-control during the study, their partner did not necessarily experience related changes.
“While couples tend to share weight management behaviors, this study found that there wasn’t any social influence between the couples when it comes to self-control or grit,” Prof. Leahey explains. “Instead, these are more individual characteristics.”
Still, it’s key to point out that the volunteers did generally see improvements in these characteristics during initial treatment.
“That suggests that both constructs are malleable,” Prof. Leahey notes. “Sometimes people think of self-control as something that doesn’t change. But this study goes to show that, with a behavioral weight loss program that teaches behavior change strategies, we can improve people’s self-control or goal pursuit.”
This research confirms previous work suggesting that self-control and grit do have an association with better weight management outcomes. Such traits are also often linked with vital health behaviors like habitual exercise and self-weighing. Grit, meanwhile, was especially helpful for weight loss maintenance.
“Weight loss maintenance is a major challenge in obesity treatment,” Prof. Leahey comments. “The fact that we saw that grit was associated with weight loss maintenance, suggests that targeting grit may improve long-term maintenance outcomes.”
The research team recommends future studies focus on improving people’s grit, or goal persistence, as a means of improving weight management habits. This could be accomplished, for example, by focusing on long-term goals that heavily involve weight management or physical fitness, such as finishing a road race or coaching a child’s soccer team. Future projects may also want to consider reducing reliance on self-control and grit through the use of environmental modification.
“Our environments tend to be obesogenic in that there are a lot of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and significant opportunity for sedentary behavior,” Prof. Leahey concludes. “Because of this, it’s not surprising that we have high rates of overweight and obesity. By modifying our environments, we can make it easier for people to lead healthier lives and not have to exercise as much self-control and grit.”
The study is published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine.
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