Personality, weight loss and obesity-related well-being post bariatric surgery
Conference Contribution ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
Obesity has become a significant health issue in Australia, with bariatric surgery as the treatment of choice for the morbid obese (BMI ≥ 40). Personality traits have been associated with successful weight loss in the morbid obese. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between personality of bariatric patients, weight loss and obesity-related quality of life post-surgery. It was hypothesized that individuals who exhibit extraversion will have greater quality of life, whilst patients who exhibit neuroticism will have a lower quality of life and have less weight loss after surgery. The sample comprised 381 bariatric patients (359 females, 22 males). The age of the participants ranged from 19 to 72 years, the average age being 43.2 years (SD=.57). The mean BMI for the sample was 33.43. Quality of life was measured using the Obesity Related Well-Being scale (ORWELL 97). Personality was assessed with the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), a 50-item measure of the Five-Factor Model. An independent-samples t-test revealed a significant difference in the total ORWELL97 for the low (M=55.9, SD,= 17.56) versus high Neuroticism groups (M=39.3, SD=12.7); t(286)=6.39, p=0.00. There was no significant difference on obesity-related well-being between those low (M=53.2, SD=16.6) versus high (M=51.5, SD= 17.0) on extraversion t(165)=-.284, p=.777. No differences were observed on weight loss for patients low versus high on either neuroticism or extraversion. The findings have implications for psychologists working with obese persons of different personality types in enhancing quality of life following bariatric surgery.
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ACPID 2018: Australian Conference on Personality and Individual Differences
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1
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Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
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Bond University
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Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
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