Comparing CBT-T to CBT-E in Non-low-weight Adults With Eating Disorders

Plain-language summary

Eating disorders are a difficult to treat illness with significant psychological and physical sequelae. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has been the most researched and supported intervention for eating disorders. A particular version of CBT for eating disorders, CBT-E (Fairburn, 2008), has been the focus of much research over the past decade. Despite promising results from initial CBT-E trials these findings have not always replicated well and evidence points to high drop-out in real-world settings. Further, CBT-E is a resource-intensive intervention, which may contribute to poorer access to care. In an attempt to overcome some of these barriers related to CBT-E, Waller and colleagues (2018) recently developed a brief (10 session) version of CBT for non-low-weight eating disorders (e.g., bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder), referred to as CBT-T. Preliminary evidence from a case series of adult patients suggests that CBT-T has similar efficacy to CBT-E with low rates of drop-out. However, further evaluation of this brief treatment is needed, including direct comparisons with CBT-E. Indeed, given that no comparison group was included in the initial case series, it is unknown whether either CBT-T or CBT-E may be superior to the other. Thus, the aim of the current project is to examine CBT-T's efficacy in comparison to CBT-E as it has been implemented at the eating disorders service at London Health Science's Centre, and to determine whether either intervention is superior based on treatment outcome and treatment drop-out. Non-low-weight individuals with eating disorders assessed at the Adult Eating Disorders Service will be eligible to participate in the study. The principle investigator is Dr. Philip Masson, Ph.D., C. Psych., 519-685-8500 ext. 74866.

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