Guided Imagery Intervention for Obese Latino Adolescents

Guided imagery, a mind-body complementary/alternative treatment modality, offers promise to reduce stress and promote lifestyle behavior change to reduce diabetes and heart disease risk in obese Latino adolescents. The overall purpose of this study was to determine whether guided imagery, could reduce diabetes risk in obese Latino adolescents undergoing a lifestyle intervention. The specific objectives were: 1) To pilot test a new 12-week lifestyle intervention in obese Latino adolescents, in order to determine the effects of the mind-body technique of Interactive Guided ImagerySM, over and above those of healthy lifestyle education, on eating and physical activity behaviors, stress and stress biomarkers, and hormonal markers of diabetes risk; and 2) To explore the way that changes in stress produced by the intervention were associated with changes in hormonal markers of diabetes risk, particularly insulin resistance. The investigators hypothesized that participants who received guided imagery program in addition to the healthy lifestyle education would show greater improvements in insulin resistance, physical activity, dietary intake, and stress, than those receiving the healthy lifestyle education without the guided imagery. The investigators further hypothesized that reductions in stress due to the intervention would be associated with improvements in insulin resistance, a major hormonal marker of diabetes risk. For this study, obese, Latino adolescents (age 14-17) were randomized to receive either 12 weekly sessions of the lifestyle education plus guided imagery program, or lifestyle education plus a digital storytelling computer program (as a control). Outcome measures were assessed before and after the 12-week intervention, comparing the differences between the intervention groups behavioral (eating and physical activity behaviors), biological (insulin resistance and stress hormones), and psychological (stress) outcomes.