Helping HAND: Healing Anorexia Nervosa Digitally

Development and Pilot Testing of a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy-Guided Self-Help Mobile App for the Post-Acute Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa

The proposed project will develop and pilot a coached mobile app, including a social networking component, for individuals with anorexia nervosa to use in the post-acute period

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Anorexia Nervosa
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: SilverCloud Health Mobile Intervention; Device: Social Networking Intervention: Facebook

Detailed Description

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a costly and life-threatening illness. Patients with severe AN are often treated in the acute setting, but relapse after treatment is common. Further, the discharge criterion in acute settings is typically weight restoration. However, research has indicated that weight-based recovery is not "enough" and that full recovery involves physical, behavioral, and psychological components. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is useful with this population, including following discharge, and may aid in addressing psychological symptoms, achieving full recovery, and decreasing relapse. However, very few patients have access to providers trained in these techniques. mHealth technologies have great potential to exponentially increase access to high-quality services for the post-acute treatment of AN by addressing barriers to treatment, but to date, research on these approaches has been extremely limited. A guided self-help CBT-based mobile app, StudentBodies-Eating Disorders (SB-ED), has been successfully developed, demonstrating effectiveness among college women with binge/purge-type EDs. At the same time, there is demonstrated support for in-person CBT for the post-acute care and relapse prevention of adult AN. The overarching goal of this R34 is thus to develop and test a CBT-based, coached mobile app to address the post-acute care and relapse prevention.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 90
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Palo Alto, California, United States, 94304
      • Palo Alto University
  • Missouri
    • St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
      • Washington University School of Medicine
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10032
      • Columbia University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Cisgender women who are 18 years old and older, who own a mobile phone, speak English, are U.S. residents, have a BMI greater than or equal to 17, who are connected with a physician (such as a primary care provider), who are not using a feeding tube, and who have been discharged from intensive treatment (i.e., inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient) for DSM-5 anorexia nervosa within the past 2 months.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals who are not cisgender women.
• Individuals under 18 years old.
• Individuals who do not own a mobile phone.
• Individuals who have not been discharged from intensive treatment (i.e., inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient) for DSM-5 anorexia nervosa within the past 2 months).
• Individuals who are not connected with a physician (such as a primary care provider)
• Individuals who have a BMI below 17.0
• Individuals who are currently using a feeding tube

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

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mobile Coached Intervention; Participants randomized to the mobile intervention condition will receive access to the mobile app for 6 consecutive months. Participants will still be able to access other usual care options and will be encouraged to follow the discharge plan provided to them by the eating disorder program from which they were discharged.	Device: SilverCloud Health Mobile Intervention; SilverCloud Health is a mobile mental health platform offering cognitive-behavioral therapy-based guided self-help programs, including one for anorexia nervosa developed by our team. Participants in this arm will receive the support of a coach to guide them through the program. Participants will be able to communicate with their coach within the program.
Experimental: Mobile Coached Intervention Plus Social Networking; Participants randomized to the mobile intervention plus social networking condition will receive access to the mobile app, as well as Facebook social networking component, for 6 consecutive months. Participants will still be able to access other usual care options and will be encouraged to follow the discharge plan provided to them by the eating disorder program from which they were discharged.	Device: SilverCloud Health Mobile Intervention; SilverCloud Health is a mobile mental health platform offering cognitive-behavioral therapy-based guided self-help programs, including one for anorexia nervosa developed by our team. Participants in this arm will receive the support of a coach to guide them through the program. Participants will be able to communicate with their coach within the program.; Device: Social Networking Intervention: Facebook; Facebook is a social networking site that will offer participants the opportunity to interact with study team posts, post themselves, and connect with others in the study experiencing similar struggles in a private group
No Intervention: Treatment as Usual; This group will be encouraged to follow the discharge plan provided to them by the eating disorder program from which they were discharged. Participants will also be encouraged to follow-up with their eating program for additional referral information as needed and/or to reach out to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and/or Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD ) for assistance with finding treatment providers/resources as needed. NEDA and ANAD provide helplines and online treatment provider databases to help individuals find providers.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Effectiveness of the Mobile App Conditions, Compared to Referral to Usual Care, in Changing Eating Disorder Psychopathology, as Assessed by the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire.	Investigators will use the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q), a 28-item measure derived from a diagnostic interview, the standard measure of eating disorder psychopathology. The main outcome variable will be the EDE-Q Global score, an overall measure of eating disorder psychopathology. Scores possible range from 0 to 6, with higher scores indicating greater eating disorder psychopathology.	baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 9 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants With Any Reported Eating Behaviors in the Mobile App Conditions Compared to Referral to Usual Care.	Investigators will use the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q), a 28-item measure derived from a diagnostic interview, the standard measure of eating disorder psychopathology. For this secondary outcome, investigators will examine eating disorder behavior frequencies from the EDE-Q.	baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 9 months
Effectiveness of the Mobile App Conditions, Compared to Referral to Usual Care, in Changing Body Mass Index (BMI).	Investigators will use current BMI as derived from self-reported height, which has shown to be accurate in adult ED populations, and weight assessed by a digital wireless scale. At each of the study timepoints, a study coordinator will schedule a time with the participant to take their weight while they are on a Zoom call with the coordinator. Participants will be instructed to take off their shoes, wear light clothing, and empty their pockets, similar to the instructions that would be provided if this measurement were being taken in person. Given the use of a wireless scale, the measurement will be able to be immediately and automatically sent to the research team.	baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 9 months
Effectiveness of the Mobile App Conditions, Compared to Referral to Usual Care, in Changing Depression, as Assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire.	Investigators will use the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), a 9-item measure that is widely used to assess presence of possible depression and severity. Scores possible range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating greater severity of depression.	baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 9 months
Effectiveness of the Mobile App Conditions, Compared to Referral to Usual Care, in Changing Clinical Impairment, as Assessed by the Clinical Impairment Assessment.	Investigators will use the Clinical Impairment Assessment (CIA), which is a 16-item self-report measure of the severity of psychosocial impairment due to eating disorder features. Scores range from 0 to 48 with higher scores indicating higher levels of impairment.	baseline, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 9 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants Who Indicated Rehospitalization in the Mobile App Conditions Compared to Referral to Usual Care.	To assess rehospitalization and other treatment utilization, investigators will use a detailed treatment history questionnaire. Rehospitalization rates will be compared across conditions at 6 months and 9 months.	6 months and 9 months
Number of Participants Who Achieved Full Recovery in the Mobile App Conditions Compared to Referral to Usual Care, as Assessed With BMI, the Stanford-Washington University Eating Disorders Screen, and EDE-Q.	For recovery, at 6- and 9-month assessments, investigators will compare the percent of participants across study conditions who have achieved full recovery from an eating disorder, comprised of: 1) physical recovery based on having a BMI ≥ 18.5 kg/m2; 2) behavioral recovery based on absence of binge eating, vomiting, laxative use, and fasting in the past 3 months (assessed via the Stanford-Washington University Eating Disorder Screen); and 3) cognitive recovery based on scoring within 1 SD of community norms for each of the EDE-Q subscales.	6 months and 9 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Washington University School of Medicine
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 1, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): March 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 9, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 11, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): August 12, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 5, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 4, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Anorexia Nervosa
• Other Study ID Numbers: 202202113; R34MH127203 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified data will not be shared on the National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive, as this is a pilot study.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No