CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT04121598Updated Jan 10, 2022

Project TEACH: The Eating, Affect, and Cognitive Health Study

An observational study in Pediatric Obesity and Binge Eating, sponsored by University of Pittsburgh. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 10 Years to 17 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-01-10.

Sponsored by University of Pittsburgh · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Ecologic or community
Time perspective
Cross-sectional
Enrollment
48
Ages
10 Years to 17 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Specific aims are to:

  1. Assess variability in performance on state-level measures of working memory (WM) delivered via Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). The investigators expect WM performance to vary over the course of a day across participants, and to be poorer and more variable among youth with overweight/obesity and loss of control (LOC) eating relative to overweight/obese and non-overweight controls.
  2. Investigate the relationship between state WM and eating behavior. The investigators expect that poorer momentary WM will predict an increased likelihood of LOC eating as assessed via EMA, and greater energy intake and poorer dietary quality as assessed via dietary recall, across participants. The investigators expect these effects to be strongest among youth with concomitant overweight/obesity and LOC eating.
Read the detailed description

Pediatric overweight and obesity continue to represent major threats to public health. One cause is loss of control (LOC) eating, which involves a sense that one cannot control what or how much one is eating, affects up to 30% of youth with overweight/obesity, and may undermine weight control attempts via increased psychiatric distress, including onset of full-syndrome eating disorders. One methodology to explore factors underlying LOC eating is ecological momentary assessment (EMA), which enable examination of "in the moment" processes related to eating behavior. A neurocognitive factor implicated in LOC eating is executive functioning (EF; i.e., the ability to adaptively engage in ongoing, goal-oriented behavior). It is critical to understand the role of EF in the development of LOC eating because EF informs one's ability to understand and respond to emotions, and to engage in healthy weight regulation behaviors. In particular, working memory (WM), conceptualized as the ability to retain goal-relevant information when faced with distracting or irrelevant information, may impact regulation of eating behavior including vulnerability to LOC eating. Although WM is typically conceptualized as a trait-level factor, it is known to vary at the state-level as well, which may increase susceptibility for engaging in goal-incompatible behaviors. The proposed study uses EMA to characterize state-level WM and eating behavior in youth with overweight/obesity and LOC eating to understand how WM variations between- and within-subjects influence acute maladaptive eating. Participants will be 50 children, ages 10-17, 20 of whom are overweight/obese and report LOC eating (i.e., at least 3 objectively or subjectively large LOC episodes in the past 3 months), 20 of whom who will serve as overweight/obese controls with no LOC eating, and 10 of whom are normal-weight controls with no LOC eating.

02

Conditions studied

  • Pediatric Obesity
  • Binge Eating

Keywords

  • Working Memory
  • Executive Functioning
  • Loss of Control Eating
03

In context

Pediatric Obesity

1,117 studies on the registry are indexed under Pediatric Obesity; 189 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 48 is below the median of 200 across 231 observational studies indexed under Pediatric Obesity.

Browse Pediatric Obesity studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Pittsburgh is the lead sponsor of 1,385 studies on the registry; 167 are open to participants now.

Of its 8 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 4 (50%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
10 Years to 17 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Participants will be 50 children, ages 10-17, 20 of whom are overweight/obese and report LOC eating (i.e., at least 3 objectively or subjectively large LOC episodes in the past 3 months), 20 of whom who will serve as overweight/obese controls with no LOC eating, and 10 of whom are normal-weight controls with no LOC eating.

Inclusion criteria

  • Are between the ages of 10 and 17

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Are currently taking any medications known to affect weight or appetite
  • Report current or past medical or psychiatric conditions known to significantly affect eating or weight (e.g., diabetes, bulimia nervosa), with the exception of binge eating disorder
  • Have an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) in the borderline range or lower, or any condition affecting executive functioning (e.g., recent concussion, history of traumatic brain injury);
  • Are unable to read or comprehend study materials
  • Are receiving concurrent treatment for overweight/obesity
05

Study design

Observational model
Ecologic or community
Time perspective
Cross-sectional
Enrollment
48 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • Normal Weight Control

    Adolescents with a BMI percentile under 85%.

    Other: Observational

  • Overweight/Obese Control

    Adolescents with a BMI percentile at 85% or higher.

    Other: Observational

  • Overweight/Obese Experimental

    Adolescents with a BMI percentile at 85% or higher, who report loss of control eating episodes.

    Other: Observational

Interventions

  • OtherObservational

    Observational data will be obtained through self-report measures, parental report measures, cognitive assessments, and a semi-structured interview.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. BMI (Body Mass Index)

    BMI will be assessed using height and weight (cm/g)

    Time frame: Visit 1 (pre-EMA)

  2. Eating Behavior

    Eating behavior will be assessed using the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE), a semi-structured interview. Global scores are calculated, with higher scores indicating higher disordered eating symptomology.

    Time frame: Visit 1 (pre-EMA)

  3. Eating Behavior

    Eating behavior will be assessed through Nutritional Data System for Research (NDSR) software, which calculates daily macro-nutrient numbers based on self-report food recalls.

    Time frame: Across 2-week EMA period

  4. Working Memory

    Working memory will be assessed using 3 NIH Toolbox measures: the list sort task, the Flanker task, and the dimensional card task.

    Time frame: Visit 1 (pre-EMA)

  5. Working Memory

    Working memory will be assessed using a number changing task created for the purpose of this study. Sum correct responses will be scored with higher scores indicating a higher number of correct responses.

    Time frame: Across 2-week EMA period

  6. Spatial Reasoning

    Spatial reasoning will be assessed using a moving grid task created for the purpose of this study. Sum correct responses will be scored with higher scores indicating a higher number of correct responses.

    Time frame: Across 2-week EMA period

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Weight Control & Diabetes Research Center
    Providence, Rhode Island 02903, United States
08

References and documents

Study documents

  • Informed consent form · Jul 10, 2019

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 10, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04121598
Lead sponsor
University of Pittsburgh
Collaborators
The Miriam Hospital, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Responsible party
Andrea Goldschmidt (Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh) — Principal investigator
First posted
Oct 10, 2019
Start date
Jun 14, 2019
Primary completion
Nov 30, 2021
Completion
Nov 30, 2021
Last update
Jan 10, 2022

Study contacts

Andrea B. Goldschmidt, Ph.D.
principal investigator · University of Pittsburgh

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jan 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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