Psychological Symptoms Among Adolescents Enrolled in a Bariatric Surgery Program

With increasing rates of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in the United States, there is an urgent need for effective weight loss treatments for younger patients. Recently, bariatric surgery has been considered as a treatment for seriously overweight adolescents because of the potential for substantial decreases in weight and subsequent improvements in physical health. This study will examine the interaction of psychological factors and serious overweight to determine if particular patterns of psychological symptoms (psychological phenotypes) are helpful in predicting outcomes of bariatric surgery. Patients from the Center for Adolescent Bariatric Surgery (CABS) program at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York Presbyterian will be asked to participate in a longitudinal prospective study of psychopathology among severely obese adolescents. The final aim of this project is to compare psychological symptoms between obese adolescents seeking bariatric surgery, other treatment-seeking obese adolescents, and normal-weight comparison adolescents. We will evaluate the effect of psychiatric symptoms on adherence to postsurgery follow-up appointments and weight loss. This research will be broadly applicable to the study of interactions between psychological factors and compliance with treatment for youth with chronic health conditions.