COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL SELF-HELP FOR BINGE-EATING DISORDER - A CONTROLLED EFFECTIVENESS STUDY

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 2 methods o f administering a cognitive-behavioral self-help program for binge eat ing disorder. The study was designed to reproduce many of the conditio ns that apply in settings in which self-help interventions are most re levant.;Seventy-two women with binge eating disorder were randomly ass igned to 1 of 3 conditions for 12 weeks: pure self-help (PSH), guided self-help (GSH), or a waiting list (WL) control condition (followed by PSH or GSH). They were then followed up for 6 months. Both PSH and GS H had a substantial and sustained impact with almost half the particip ants ceasing to binge eat. There was little change in the WL condition . Cognitive-behavioral self-help may be of value both as an initial tr eatment for binge eating disorder and as a form of secondary preventio n.