A behavioral intervention targeting an individual’s sensitivity to food-based cues may be effective for people with binge eating disorder, according to study findings published today in JAMA Network Open.
In a clinical trial, the intervention known as regulation of cues plus behavioral weight loss (ROC+BWL) outperformed cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in reducing weight and binge eating risk.
For the trial, Kerri N. Boutelle, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues randomized 129 veterans (59% male) to receive five months of either ROC+BWL or CBT. ROC+BWL targets multiple mechanisms of binge eating by training individuals to understand appetitive cues, inhibit the urge to eat when not physically hungry, and tolerate food cravings. CBT focused on normalizing eating patterns as well as addressing problematic thoughts related to eating behavior, body shape, and self-esteem. Both treatments were provided in weekly 90-minute group sessions and set a goal of engaging in at least 250 minutes of physical activity per week.
At the end of the treatment period, veterans who received ROC+BWL reported fewer binge eating episodes, slightly greater weight loss, and reduced caloric intake compared with those receiving CBT. The benefits of ROC+BWL were more pronounced in veterans who had full-syndrome binge eating disorder at the start of the trial (at least 12 binge eating episodes in the previous three months). Binge eating frequency remained lower in the ROC+BWL group at a six-month follow-up, though average weight rebounded to match the CBT group.
“ROC+BWL targets both appetitive traits and reduction in energy intake, which could provide multiple distinct skills to manage urges to binge eat and overeat and provide a more durable treatment,” Boutelle and colleagues wrote. “Although this investigation provides initial support for the use of ROC+BWL as an alternative model to treat binge eating among veterans, more research is needed on the effects on weight and on these treatments among community samples, and longer-term studies are needed, as well as studies that include ROC alone.”
For related information, see the American Journal of Psychiatry article “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Lisdexamfetamine, Alone and Combined, for Binge-Eating Disorder With Obesity."
(Image: Getty Images/iStock/domoyega)
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