2015 EST Status: Treatment pending re-evaluation Very strong: High-quality evidence that treatment improves symptoms and functional outcomes at post-treatment and follow-up; little risk of harm; requires reasonable amount of resources; effective in non-research settings

Strong: Moderate- to high-quality evidence that treatment improves symptoms OR functional outcomes; not a high risk of harm; reasonable use of resources

Weak: Low or very low-quality evidence that treatment produces clinically meaningful effects on symptoms or functional outcomes; Gains from the treatment may not warrant resources involved

Insufficient Evidence: No meta-analytic study could be identified

Insufficient Evidence: Existing meta-analyses are not of sufficient quality

Treatment pending re-evaluation

1998 EST Status: Strong Research Support Strong: Support from two well-designed studies conducted by independent investigators.

Modest: Support from one well-designed study or several adequately designed studies.

Controversial: Conflicting results, or claims regarding mechanisms are unsupported.

Brief Summary

• Basic premise: Dietary restraint leads to binge eating, which leads to further dietary restraint. Thus, reducing dietary restriction via cognitive and behavioral interventions can reduce binge eating.
• Essence of therapy: Dietary restraint promotes and maintains binge eating pathology; thus, the treatment is designed to reduce dietary restraint through behavioral strategies (e.g., self-monitoring of behaviors, normalizing patterns of eating). The treatment also includes modifying dysfunctional thoughts and beliefs about one’s body shape and weight, which is also designed to reduce eating disorder pathology.
• Length: Approx. 16 sessions

 

Treatment Resources

Editors: Evan Forman, PhD; Stephanie Manasse, MS

Note: The resources provided below are intended to supplement not replace foundational training in mental health treatment and evidence-based practice

Treatment Manuals / Outlines

Treatment Manuals

• CBT for BED Group Treatment Manual (Mitchell)

Measures, Handouts and Worksheets

• Self-Monitoring Form

Self-help Books

• CBT for BED Self-Help Manual (Mitchell)
• Overcoming Binge Eating: The Proven Program to Learn Why You Binge and How You Can Stop (Fairburn)

Important Note: The books listed above are based on empirically-supported in-person treatments. They have not necessarily been evaluated empirically either by themselves or in conjunction with in-person treatment. We list them as a resource for clinicians who assign them as an adjunct to conducting in-person treatment.

Clinical Trials

• A transdiagnostic comparison of enhanced cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT-E) and interpersonal psychotherapy in the treatment of eating disorders (Fairburn et al., 2015)
• Efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy and fluoxetine for the treatment of binge eating disorder: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled comparison (Grilo, Masheb, & Wilson, 2005)
• A randomized comparison of group cognitive-behavioral therapy and group interpersonal psychotherapy for the treatment of overweight individuals with binge-eating disorder (Wilfley et al., 2002)
• A randomized comparison of cognitive behavioral therapy and behavioral weight loss treatment for overweight individuals with binge eating disorder (Munsch et al., 2007)
• Weight loss, cognitive-behavioral, and desipramine treatments in binge eating disorder: An additive design (Agras et al., 1994)

 

Other Treatment Resources

• Psychological treatments for binge eating disorder (Iacovino et al., 2012)
• Body image interventions in cognitive-behaviourial therapy of binge eating disorder: A component analysis (Hilbert & Tuschen-Caffier, 2004)
• Effectiveness of spouse involvement in cognitive behavioral therapy for binge eating disorder (Gorin, le Grange, & Stone, 2003)