Programme-Led and Focused Interventions for Recent Onset Binge/Purge Eating Disorders: Use and Outcomes in the First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders (FREED) Network.

Objective: We aimed to compare use of, and outcomes from, programme-led and focused interventions (guided self-help and 10 session cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders [CBT-T]) relative to other psychological therapies (including group and individual CBT for eating disorders [CBT-ED]) in a national sample of emerging adults receiving early intervention for a non-underweight binge/purge eating disorder.

Method: Data were drawn from 54 English eating disorder services using the First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders (FREED) model. Participants (N = 1097) had a mean age of 18.95 years (SD 2.42) and diagnoses of bulimia nervosa (n = 506; 45%), binge eating disorder (n = 121; 11%), another specified feeding or eating disorder (n = 460; 42%), or an eating disorder, unspecified (n = 10, 1%). Linear mixed models were used to assess for effects of time and treatment on binge eating and purging, eating disorder psychopathology, depression/anxiety, and body mass index.

Results: 11% (n = 117) of patients received guided self-help and 24% (n = 268) received CBT-T. Baseline eating disorder psychopathology and depressive/anxiety symptoms did not differ significantly across the guided self-help, CBT-T, group CBT-ED, and individual CBT-ED conditions. All treatments were associated with significant reductions in symptoms over time. GSH and CBT-T performed comparably to longer CBT-ED.

Discussion: We provide additional evidence for the effectiveness of GSH and CBT-T in the treatment of non-underweight binge/purge eating disorders. Programme-led and focused interventions may be under-utilized and future research should explore when they are offered, and when not, both within and outside of early intervention settings.