GROUP COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT OF BINGE-EATING DISORDER - A COMPARISON OF THERAPIST-LED VERSUS SELF-HELP FORMATS

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare three group cognit ive-behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment models and a waiting list contr ol condition (WL). Method: Sixty-one women who met DSM-IV criteria for binge eating disorder (BED) received treatment with the same cognitiv e-behavioral treatment manual in 14 one-hour sessions over an 8-week p eriod. All sessions consisted of psychoeducation for the first 30 min and group discussion for the second half hour. In the therapist-led co ndition (TL; n = 16), a doctoral therapist led both the psychoeducatio nal component and group discussion. In the partial self-help condition (PSH; n = 19), participants viewed a 30-min psychoeducational videota pe, followed by participation in a therapist-led discussion. In the st ructured self-help condition (SH; n = 15), subjects viewed the 30-min psychoeducational videotape and subsequently led their own 30-min disc ussion. Eleven subjects were assigned to a wait-list control condition (WL). The primary outcome variables were frequency and duration of se lf-reported binge eating episodes. Results: A mixed effects linear mod eling (random regression) analysis indicated that subjects in all thre e active treatment conditions showed a decrease in binge eating sympto ms over time. No group differences in rates of change over time were o bserved, although analysis of covariance indicated that all three trea tment conditions showed significantly greater improvement in binge eat ing compared to the WL condition. Discussion: The findings from this p reliminary study suggest that CBT for BED can be delivered effectively in a structured group self-help format (C) 1998 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.