Avoidance and Inflexibility as a Common Clinical Pathway in Obesity and Smoking Treatment

This brief study presents reductions in avoidance and inflexibility as a potential common clinical pathway to intervene on for both smoking cessation and weight control. A mediation analysis--using the Avoidance and Inflexibility Scale (AIS)--was conducted on a group of participants (N = 84) who were shown to improve weight control outcomes after receiving an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention. Results were then compared to a previous study using the same process measure (AIS) for smoking cessation. Results suggest a common clinical pathway.