Background: Owing to the gap between treatment supply and demand, there are long waiting periods for patients with binge eating disorder, and there is an urgent need to increase their access to... Show moreBackground: Owing to the gap between treatment supply and demand, there are long waiting periods for patients with binge eating disorder, and there is an urgent need to increase their access to specialized treatment. Guided self-help cognitive behavioral therapy-enhanced (CBT-E) may have great advantages for patients if its efficacy can be established.Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of guided self-help CBT-E compared with that of a delayed-treatment control condition.Methods: A single-blind 2-arm randomized controlled trial was designed to evaluate guided self-help CBT-E according to an intention-to-treat analysis. A total of 180 patients were randomly assigned to guided self-help CBT-E (n=90, 50%) or the delayed-treatment control condition (n=90, 50%) for which guided self-help CBT-E was provided after the initial 12-week delay. The primary outcome was reduction in binges. The secondary outcome was full recovery at the end of treatment, as measured using the Eating Disorder Examination during the last 4 weeks of treatment. A linear mixed model analysis was performed to compare treatment outcomes at the end of treatment. A second linear mixed model analysis was performed to measure between and within-group effects for up to 24 weeks of follow-up. The Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire and clinical impairment assessment were conducted before and after treatment and during follow-up. In addition, dropout rates were assessed in both conditions.Results: During the last 4 weeks of treatment, objective binges reduced from an average of 19 (SD 16) to 3 (SD 5) binges, and 40% (36/90) showed full recovery in the guided self-help CBT-E group. Between-group effect size (Cohen d) was 1.0 for objective binges. At follow-up, after both groups received treatment, there was no longer a difference between the groups. Of the 180 participants, 142 (78.9%) completed treatment. The overall treatment dropout appeared to be associated with gender, level of education, and number of objective binges at baseline but not with treatment condition.Conclusions: This is the first study to investigate the efficacy of guided self-help CBT-E. Guided self-help CBT-E appeared to be an efficacious treatment. This study's findings underscore the international guidelines recommending this type of treatment for binge eating disorder. Show less
Melisse, B.; Dekker, J.; Berg, E. van den; Jonge, M. de; Furth, E.F. van; Peen, J.; Beurs, E. de 2022
Cognitive behaviour therapy-enhanced (CBT-E) is an effective treatment for non-underweight patients with eating disorders. Its efficacy and effectiveness is investigated mostly among... Show moreCognitive behaviour therapy-enhanced (CBT-E) is an effective treatment for non-underweight patients with eating disorders. Its efficacy and effectiveness is investigated mostly among transdiagnostic samples and remains unknown for binge eating disorder. The aim of the present study was to assess several treatment outcome predictors and to compare effectiveness of CBT-E among adult out-patients with bulimia nervosa (n=370), binge eating disorder (n=113), and those with a restrictive food pattern diagnosed with other specified feeding and eating disorders (n=139). Effectiveness of CBT-E was assessed in routine clinical practice in a specialised eating disorders centre. Eating disorder pathology was measured with the EDEQ pre- and post-treatment, and at 20 weeks follow-up. Linear mixed model analyses with fixed effect were performed to compare treatment outcome among the eating disorder groups. Several predictors of treatment completion and outcome were examined with a regression analysis. No predictors for drop-out were found, except the diagnosis of bulimia nervosa. Eating disorder pathology decreased among all groups with effect sizes between 1.43 and 1.70 on the EDE-Q total score. There were no differences in remission rates between the three groups at end of treatment or at follow-up. Eating disorder severity at baseline affected treatment response. The results can be generalised to other specialised treatment centres. No subgroup of patients differentially benefited from CBT-E supporting the transdiagnostic perspective for the treatment of eating disorders. Longer-term follow-up data are necessary to measure persistence of treatment benefits. Show less
Executive functions play an important role in mediating self-control and self-regulation. It has been suggested that the inability to control eating in Binge Eating Disorder (BED) may indicate... Show moreExecutive functions play an important role in mediating self-control and self-regulation. It has been suggested that the inability to control eating in Binge Eating Disorder (BED) may indicate inefficiencies in executive functioning. This study investigated whether executive functioning predicted cognitive behavioural therapy outcome in BED while accounting for other possible predictors: depressive symptoms, interpersonal factors, eating disorder psychopathology, and self-esteem. Executive functioning and other predictors were assessed in 91 patients with BED by means of neuropsychological tests and questionnaires at baseline. Eating disorder (ED) symptoms were assessed during treatment at variable time points. Potential predictor variables were investigated using multivariate Cox regression models. Recovery was defined by means of two different indicators based on the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire: (a) showing a 50% reduction in baseline symptom ED severity and/or reaching the clinical significance cut-off; and (b) achieving abstinence of objective binge eating. Severity of depressive symptoms was a significant predictor for outcome on both indicators. Patients with no or mild depressive symptoms recovered faster (i.e., 50% reduction in ED symptoms and abstinence of objective binge eating) than those with severe depressive symptoms, which is in line with previous studies. Executive functioning was not related to treatment outcome in this study. Show less
