Positive psychological characteristics in patients with metabolic syndrome associated with prospective changes in diet and anthropometric factors

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is increasing
worldwide and diet therapy plays a key
role in treating this disease. Since most patients show difficulties in
adhering to nutritional interventions, research on the association of positive
psychological characteristics with greater engagement in healthy behaviors and
better physical health is relevant to this field. The present study aimed to
evaluate the association between positive psychology attributes (optimism,
hope, self-esteem, positive/negative affect and life satisfaction) and changes
in diet quality and anthropometric
parameters of individuals with MetS who received nutritional counseling. The
study assessed 63 patients (age 55.3 ± 14.1) at a nutrition outpatient clinic.
Anthropometric parameters and 24-hour food recall data (for evaluation of the Brazilian
Healthy Eating Index - Revised – BHEI-R) were collected at the first visit and subsequent return visit, on average five
months later. Psychological data were collected at the first visit using
validated and standardized scales. The results were adjusted in relation to the
depression scores of the patients, which were evaluated using the Beck Depression
Inventory-II (BDI-II). Changes in anthropometric factors and in the BHEI-R were
assessed, associating them with the psychological attributes investigated. The
results indicated that positive affect and hope were associated with
improvement in BHEI-R scores (Cohen effect sizes -0.65 and -0.58; p = 0.012 and
0.025, respectively). A significant
association was also observed between optimism and a reduction in abdominal
circumference (Cohen effect size 0.56; p = 0.031). The associations remained
significant even after adjusting for the BDI-II (p = 0.022, p = 0.037 and p =
27 0.05, respectively). No statistically significant associations were observed
for the other attributes assessed. The study suggests that some attributes may
have greater influence on the nutritional treatment of MetS and that future
studies should be conducted in order to enable effective multidisciplinary
interventions to treat MetS.