Binge Eating Self-help Treatment for University Students (BEST4US)

Francine Rosselli

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Obesity; Binge Eating Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Pure Self-Help; Behavioral: Guided Self-Help

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01888406

1R15DK092768 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

1R15DK092768-O1A1

Details and patient eligibility

About

BEST4US compares the effectiveness of two forms of self-help interventions that target college students, ages 18 years to 22 years, who report binge eating. The overall question is whether one or the other format will prevent excess weight gain and lead to differences in eating behaviors. The two formats are (1) "pure self-help" (receipt of a self-help program via book form or online texts) and (2) a combination of the self-help program and guidance provided by a trained peer coach over the course of 8 weekly sessions.

Enrollment: 130 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 22 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• binge eating episodes at least once per week in the past 28 days
• 18 to 22 years old
• full-time student at Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT, USA) or Manchester Community College (Manchester, CT, USA)

Exclusion criteria

• purging more than once per week in the past three months
• BMI less than 18 or greater than/equal to 40
• currently pregnant
• severe depressive symptoms or suicidality

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

---

130 participants in 2 patient groups

Guided Self-Help

Experimental group

Description:

Participants receive self-help materials, including a book (Overcoming Binge Eating by C. Fairburn, handouts, and online resources. In addition, participants receive 8 individual sessions with a peer coach who supports participants in working the self-help program.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Guided Self-Help

Pure Self-Help

Other group

Description:

Participants receive self-help materials, including a book (Overcoming Binge Eating by C. Fairburn, handouts, and online resources.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Pure Self-Help