Principal Findings
weight gain, binge eating, eating disorder
SECONDARY, PATHOLOGY
The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of guided self-help CBT-E compared with a delayed-treatment control group regarding reduction in objective binges. The efficacy of guided self-help CBT-E was demonstrated by its superiority in outcome over the delayed-treatment control condition at T2. On the basis of reduction in binge eating, a large effect size (Cohen Recovery rates for all other outcome measures were superior at T2 in the guided self-help condition than in the delayed-treatment control condition. In the guided self-help condition, 40% (36/90) of the participants showed full recovery according to the EDE interview, and eating disorder pathology score was below the clinical cutoff of 62% (56/90). Of them, 79% (71/90) reported an eating disorder pathology score below the clinical cutoff on self-report data. Follow-up data revealed no differences between the groups after both groups had received treatment. Treatment benefits persisted at T3 and T4 for the experimental condition and at T4 for the control condition. BMI did not change over the course of treatment, which can be interpreted as the prevention of weight gain.Reduction in binges [The proportion of patients with eating disorder pathology scoring below the cutoff on the eating disorder measures indicated that guided self-help CBT-E is at least as effective as guided self-help interventions based on regular CBT [We found that the severity of binge eating, eating disorder pathology, and secondary impairment in our study were comparable with those of previous studies that included patients with BED and transdiagnostic samples [Treatment dropout rate was 21.1% (38/180), and the majority dropped out during the COVID-19 pandemic (34/180, 89.5%), with one-third owing to reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Treatment dropout rate was comparable with that of other studies, including a waiting-list control condition [