Internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for bulimia nervosa: A controlled study

Abstract

Objectives:To examine the effectiveness of an Internet Based Therapy (IBT) for Bulimia Nervosa (BN), when compared to a brief psychoeducational group therapy (PET) or a waiting list (WL).Method:93 female BN patients, diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria. An experimental group (31 IBT patients) was compared to two groups (31 PET and 31 WL). PET and WL were matched to the IBT group in terms of age, disorder duration, previous treatments and severity. All patients completed assesment, prior and after treatment.Results:Considering IBT, mean scores were lower at the end of treatment for some EDI scales and BITE symptoms scale, while the mean BMI was higher at post-therapy. Main predictors of good IBT outcome were higher scores in EDI perfectionism and higher scores on reward dependence. Drop-out was related to higher SCL-obsessive/compulsive (p=0.045) and novelty seeking (p=0.044) scores and lower reward dependence (p=0.018). At the end of the treatment bingeing and vomiting abstinence rates (22.6% for IBT, 33.3% for PET, and 0.0% for WL; p=0.003) and drop-out rates (35.5% IBT, 12.9% PET and 0% WL; p= 0.001) differed significantly between groups. While the concrete comparison between the two treatments (IBT and PET) did not evidence significant differences for success proportions (p=0.375), statistical differences for drop-out rates (p=0.038) were obtained.Conclusions:The results of this study suggest that an online self-help approach appears to be a valid treatment option for BN, especially for people who present lower severity of their eating disorder (ED) symptomatology and some specific personality traits.

Treating eating disorders over the internet: A systematic review and future research directions

“…The majority of the included studies ( N = 14) reported on internet‐based CBT. Two of these were mainly qualitative, exploring the views and experiences of participants, as well as the content of e‐mails sent by therapists to participants, whereas the other twelve studies focused on the effectiveness of internet‐based CBT . These 14 studies evaluated six different internet‐based CBT programs.…”

Video games as a complementary therapy tool in mental disorders: PlayMancer, a European multicentre study

“…Given the increasing interest of many national health care systems in extending the accessibility of services and treatment programmes for mental disorders, several new technological strategies have been used, from telemedicine to Internet approaches, vodcast and virtual reality scenarios (Botella et al, 2010; Fernandez-Aranda et al, 2009b; Beintner et al, 2012; Mitchell & Robinson, 2000; Treasure et al, 2010). To date, the use of new technologies has progressively been applied in several mental disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorders (Mataix-Cols & Marks, 2006), schizophrenia (Bellack et al, 2005), eating disorders (EDs) (Carrard et al, 2011; Sánchez-Ortiz et al, 2011), addictive behaviours (Lee et al, 2007) and anxiety disorders (Difede et al, 2007).…”

Boulimie online overwinnen

“…In een Zweeds onderzoek van Ljotsson en collega's (2007) doorliepen de deelnemers een zelfhulpboek en werden daarbij wekelijks via e-mail ondersteund. Een Zwitserse onderzoeksgroep koos een soortgelijke aanpak (Fernández-Aranda et al, 2009). De effectiviteit van dit programma wordt op dit moment in een omvangrijke Europese studie onderzocht.…”

“…Het zou echter ook mogelijk zijn geweest om de zelfhulpgroep bij het lezen te begeleiden met wekelijkse instructies over de hoofdstukken. Eerdere studies met online begeleide zelfhulp voor boulimie (Fernández-Aranda et al, 2009;Ljotsson et al, 2007) suggereren dat de resultaten dan waarschijnlijk positiever zouden zijn geweest.…”