Table 1 Summary of key findings
From: Psychotherapies for eating disorders: findings from a rapid review
Psychotherapy | Key findings |
|---|---|
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) | CBT emerged as the primary treatment for individuals with BN and BED. There is consensus regarding its transdiagnostic therapeutic effectiveness across diagnoses given its ability to target illness-maintaining features and reduce binge/purge symptomatology. Strong emerging evidence suggests that CBT may be effective when administered using group therapy, guided self-help and technology-based delivery modalities |
Dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT) | Studies focusing on DBT and DBT-BED have indicated that it may be successful at reducing the frequency of binge-eating |
Family based therapy (FBT) | FBT should be considered in the first instance for the treatment of children and adolescents with AN (including atypical presentations, OSFED/UFED). It is the most consistently effective treatment for adolescent AN and has been found to be highly cost-effective in an Australian context |
Interpersonal therapy (IPT) | IPT has been considered an effective and viable alternative treatment for BN and BED |
Technology-based interventions | Emerging evidence is beginning to highlight that technology-based interventions, such as iCBT, CBTR4BN, RecoveryMANTRA, guided computer-based interventions, and virtual-reality may be efficacious treatments for a range of EDS—primarily BED and BN |
Guided self-help (GSH) | Research suggests GSH as the recommended first-line treatment for non-underweight EDs, with illnesses characterised by recurrent binge eating, namely BED and BN. Self-help interventions are not recommended in the treatment of AN due to the specialist care required for this disorder |
Other therapeutic approaches and treatments for less common eating disorders | Investigations into novel psychotherapeutic approaches are being trialled in RCTs. From the small number of studies included, neither ICAT or ACT demonstrated superior efficacy when compared with an active comparator (CBT), or treatment as usual (TAU) for patients with AN or BN. However, emerging evidence suggests that ICAT may be equally as effective as CBT-E and guided self-help at reducing bulimic tendencies |
| Â | Research is very limited for the treatment of ARFID |
| Â | Research is very limited in terms of ED carer support |