Imagining your future to support weight loss
Official title: Adapting Episodic Future Thinking for Behavioral Weight Loss: Comparing Strategies and Characterizing Treatment Response
Funded at Miriam Hospital · NIH-11168679 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project compares two ways of using future-imagining exercises to help adults with overweight or obesity lose weight in an online behavioral program.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Miriam Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Providence, United States) |
| Project start | September 23, 2021 |
| Project end | August 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $570,515 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DK128412-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11168679 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with overweight or obesity who want to lose weight and are willing to participate in an online behavioral program are the best fit.
✕Less likely to help
People who need immediate medical or surgical weight-loss treatments, who cannot use internet-based programs, or who have uncontrolled psychiatric or cognitive conditions may not benefit from this approach.
What this research studies
You would join an internet-delivered behavioral weight-loss program and be randomly assigned to one of three options: the standard program, a PREVENT version that helps you imagine future negative consequences of unhealthy choices, or a PROMOTE version that helps you imagine positive future benefits of healthy choices. You would practice episodic future thinking exercises, track your weight and food choices online, and complete brief questionnaires about motivation and food reward. The researchers will measure weight change, eating behavior, and related cognitive measures over time and look for patterns that show who benefits most from each approach.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could help people lose more weight by shifting attention away from immediate food rewards toward future goals.
How similar studies have gone: Previous small trials and the investigators' pilot R03 showed that episodic future thinking can improve food choices and reduce intake, with the PREVENT approach showing promising weight loss versus standard care.
Where this research is happening
-
Miriam Hospital
Providence, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Demos, Kathryn E — Miriam Hospital
- Study coordinator: Demos, Kathryn E
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.