COMPARISON OF A STANDARD BEHAVIORAL WEIGHT-LOSS TREATMENT AND A BINGE-EATING WEIGHT-LOSS TREATMENT

Women with no, moderate, or severe binge eating were treated with eith er a standard behavioral weight loss treatment or a weight loss treatm ent modified to better address binge eating problems. Results indicate d significant interactions between type of treatment and binge severit y for weight loss. At posttreatment, there was a trend for women with severe binge eating to lose more weight in the binge eating treatment. This difference was significant at follow-up, as women with severe bi nge eating in the binge eating treatment continued to lose weight. Wom en with moderate binge eating problems lost more weight in the standar d treatment. Weight loss for women who did not binge eat did not diffe r between the treatments. Binge eating, dietary restraint, and depress ion were significantly reduced, but were not reduced more by the binge eating treatment. Results provide preliminary data on an effective we ight loss treatment for women with severe binge eating problems.