Examined attributions for self-perceived failure or success among participants in a shortterm very low calorie diet (VLCD) weight loss program. At 6 months follow-up, each subject was asked to attribute the outcome to internal factors, external factors, or to treatment program. Results showed that perceived failures and successes attributed about 50% of the outcome to internal factors. Perceived successes attributed outcome more to the treatment program than did perceived failures. Subjects also perceived the general success rates of VLCD treatments to be higher than those reported in the literature.
The recent popularity of very low calorie diets (VLCDs) has raised many questions regarding their long-term efficacy. Sikand, showed large weight regains at 2-year follow-up after treatment with VLCD. Regain may put patients at increased physiological risk due to weight cycling (Rodin, Radke-Sharpe, Rebuffe-Scrive, & Greenwood, 1990). There may also be psychological damage caused by the perception that weight loss is the result of treatment, and regain is the result of a defect in character. Most people make self-serving attributions in that they attribute successes to themselves and attribute failures to unavoidable environmental conditions. This has a positive effect on self-esteem (Taylor & Brown, 1988).
However, those who have experienced repeated failure in weight control may tend to blame themselves. This tendency of overweight persons to attribute weight loss failure to intrapersonal defects has now been documented by . They found that subjects assigned to lose weight made more negative self-attri-