Testing an Intervention for College Students With Food Insecurity and Binge Eating

Building an Intervention for College Students With Food Insecurity and Binge Eating

This study is being conducted to test a new intervention. We are interested in whether it is easy to use and complete and whether you find it helpful in reducing concerns about your eating.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Binge Eating
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: novel binge eating intervention for college students experiencing food insecurity.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 10
• Phase: Early Phase 1

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• college student status, ages 18-30 years, current food insecurity, current binge eating, and interest in changing binge eating behaviors. Food security status will be determined by 2-item the Hunger Vital Sign screening, which demonstrates high sensitivity and specificity in identifying individuals with food insecurity; scores must report mild or greater food insecurity to participate. Binge eating and related impairment will be evaluated by the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale and the Clinical Impairment Assessment, and the binge eating items from the Eating Disorder Examination interview. Eating behaviors must be consistent with a DSM-5-TR binge spectrum eating disorder diagnosis, whereby an individual reports binge eating episodes at minimum one time per week for the current month and at least two times per month for the prior two months, to participate. Participants will be permitted to report other mild level symptoms of psychopathology due to the high comorbidity between anxiety, depression, and binge eating among individuals with food insecurity.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Severe levels of anxiety and depression symptoms.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Binge eating intervention; This arm will test a novel binge eating intervention for college students experiencing food insecurity.	Behavioral: novel binge eating intervention for college students experiencing food insecurity.; this intervention uses aspects of cognitive behavorial therapy for eating disorders combined with compassion-focused therapy techniques.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Self-Compassion Scale (SCS)	SCS is a 26-item survey that measures how an individual perceives themselves, and whether they respond with self-criticism or self-compassion in times of suffering, failure, and perceived inadequacy.	3 weeks
Experiences of Shame Scale (ESS)	The ESS is a 25-item survey that assesses an individual's perceived feelings of shame about themselves, their behaviors, and their body weight and shape; higher scores indicate greater feelings of shame.	3 weeks
Systems Usability Scale (SUS)	Measures usability of an intervention	3 weeks
Digital Behavioral Change Interventions (DBCI) Engagement Scale	Measures intervention engagement	3 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 2, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 2, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): April 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 9, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 2, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Hyperphagia; Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms; Bulimia
• Other Study ID Numbers: PK2RNLRK

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No