Eating Disorders: a program of cognitive behavioral therapy effective online

A program using the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy and offered via the Internet could be effective in preventing eating disorders among students most likely to be confronted, suggest the results of a study published in the American " Archives of General Psychiatry. "

In the population of young women, there are nearly 2% to 4% of cases of anorexia nervosa, bulimia or binge eating, knowing that a proportion at least as important shows no eating disorder characterized but manifest still some specific symptoms of this type of problem, recall Dr. Barr Taylor of Stanford University, California, and colleagues.

Since the onset of these disorders lags peak in young women aged sixteen to twenty years, at about the time when many of them leave home to go to university, the researchers wanted to assess effectiveness of a proposed female students via Internet prevention program.

Their study involved 480 young students of areas of San Diego and the San Francisco Bay caring much of their weight and body image and therefore appearing therefore particularly likely to develop eating disorders. The young participants, aged 18 to 30 years, had a body mass index (BMI, weight ratio of the square of height) between 18 and 32 (knowing that a BMI between 18 and 25 reflects a situation " normal ", a BMI between 25 and 30 corresponding to an upper overweight and obesity in 30 BMI).

These young women were divided into two groups. Only half of them has participated in the intervention program, the other constituting a group "control". Called "Student Bodies", this prevention protocol for a period of eight weeks applies the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy, using the Internet as a medium.

Participants received each week including backgrounders, completed a "diary" in which they could record their state of mind and participated in online discussion forums led by a psychologist. Targeted goal of reducing the dissatisfaction of young women with regard to their body image and their concerns about their weight, teach them to regulate it by adopting a healthy lifestyle (healthy diet and fight against physical inactivity) help fight against binge eating and make them aware of health problems associated with eating disorders.

All participants in this study, whether or not they follow the intervention program, were then followed for three years, which allowed the authors to note that participation in this initiative proves effective prevention.

Thus, the results obtained in the various tests and rating scales that all young women have had to fill the authors found that those who followed this prevention program then less concerned with their image, this trend is proving significantly than that observed in the control group

After three years of follow up, 43 young women in total have developed an eating disorder and began to show some of the characteristic symptoms of such disorders.

If the overall probability of occurrence of eating disorders appears to be comparable between young women who participated in the program and those in the control group, the preventive effects of the project "Student bodies" have significantly reduced the risk of developing such disorders in two subgroups: among participants with a high BMI (above 25) at the launch of the study and in those with behavior and overeating compensation through sport, the use of medications with slimming or laxatives, or even vomiting.

In the Bay Area of San Francisco, only 4% who participated in this program have developed eating disorders one year after the study, the proportion rising to 14.4% after two years, respectively, against 16% and 30.4% for young women in the control group. Moreover, among those with a higher BMI at the launch of the study, none had participated in the program online has developed an eating disorder, while 4.7% of young girls who have not benefited from as a support have developed problems in the next year and 11.9% after two years.

These results suggest that for students is worrying too much about their weight and build, a cognitive-behavioral approach, in the form of an eight-week offered online, can significantly reduce the importance of these girls give their image and their risk of developing eating disorders, at least for those that appear most likely to be confronted, the authors conclude.

To their knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate that it is possible to prevent eating disorders and conclusions seem all the more encouraging that to propose a program to prevent Internet can reach large populations for a relatively low cost.