Guided Self‐Help Treatment for Children and Young People With Eating Disorders: A Proof‐Of‐Concept Pilot Study

Objective: To conduct a proof‐of‐concept pilot study of a CBT guided self‐help intervention for children and young people witheating disorders. Method: Children and young people were recruited from two outpatient eating disorder services in England. They received aCBT guided self‐help intervention consisting of eight modules and weekly support sessions. Clinical outcomes (eating disorderpsychopathology and associated impairment, changes in %median BMI, depression, anxiety, and behavioural difficulties) wereassessed at baseline and post‐intervention (12 weeks). Qualitative data were collected for future intervention refinement. Results: Six female adolescents (aged 13–17) received the CBT guided self‐help intervention. All participants completed aminimum of six modules and six support sessions. Quantitative and qualitative feedback suggested that the intervention wasacceptable. From baseline to post‐intervention, there was a reduction in eating disorder psychopathology and impairment, alongwith an increase in %median BMI. Outcomes for depression, anxiety and behavioural difficulties were mixed. Conclusions: The CBT guided self‐help intervention was feasibly implemented, acceptable to participants, and showed potential to produce clinical benefits. While promising, these findings are preliminary and derived from a small, non‐randomisedsample of White female adolescents. More rigorous evaluation with a randomised design and a larger, representative sample iswarranted.

Citation

Davey, E., Bryant-Waugh, R., Bennett, S. D., Micali, N., Baudinet, J., Konstantellou, A., Clark-Stone, S., Green, A., & Shafran, R. (2025). Guided Self-Help Treatment for Children and Young People With Eating Disorders: A Proof-Of-Concept Pilot Study. European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association, 33(3), 595–607. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.3171

DOI

10.1002/erv.3171

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14709/593

License

CC BY 4.0

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Usage rights

CC BY 4.0

License

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/