Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents With Bulimia

This pilot study will evaluate the effectiveness of individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and supportive psychotherapy (SP) in reducing bulimic symptoms among adolescents.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Bulimia Nervosa
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Supportive Psychotherapy; Behavioral: cognitive behavior therapy

Detailed Description

Patients will be randomized to have an equal chance of either receiving CBT or SP. Participants will include both individuals with DSM-IV bulimia nervosa (BN), and patients with sub-threshold BN. Adolescent patients will be treated at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, with a target recruitment of 20 patients completing the study. Participants in both conditions will be assessed prior to treatment and at the end of treatment. This trial is intended to serve as a pilot investigation to determine the feasibility and utility of a larger controlled study in this population.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 8
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10032
      • New York State Psychiatric Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 12 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age between 12 and 18
2. DSM-IV diagnosis of bulimia nervosa or sub-threshold bulimia nervosa (binge eating and/or purging at least once per week)

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Diagnosis of bipolar disorder
2. Current psychosis
3. Drug or alcohol abuse in the past 3 months
4. Acute Suicidal Risk
5. Major depression producing significant functional impairment
6. Significant medical illness
7. Weight outside of normal weight range (between 85% and 120% of the 50th percentile for age as measured by standard growth charts)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: supportive psychotherapy; supportive psychotherapy: 14 sessions	Behavioral: Supportive Psychotherapy; The supportive psychotherapy treatment used in this study will involve identifying issues underlying your child's eating disorder and giving your child information about the psychological processes that tend to maintain or continue eating disorder symptoms.
Active Comparator: cognitive behavior therapy; cognitive behavior therapy: 14 sessions	Behavioral: cognitive behavior therapy; The cognitive behavioral therapy used in this study will focus on developing patterns of regular eating, addressing body image issues, and ways to cope with situations that trigger eating disordered behaviors.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Eating Disorder Examination scores	28 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: New York State Psychiatric Institute
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Robyn Sysko, PhD, New York State Psychiatric Institute

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2008
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 1, 2010
• Study Completion (Actual): February 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 18, 2008
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 18, 2008
• First Posted (Estimate): September 19, 2008

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): October 26, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 25, 2012
• Last Verified: October 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: BN and subthreshold BN
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Hyperphagia; Bulimia; Bulimia Nervosa
• Other Study ID Numbers: 4819