Nurture: A Program for Mothers With Histories of Disordered Eating

University of North Carolina (UNC)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Eating Disorders

Treatments: Behavioral: Nurture Support Group Therapy; Behavioral: Group therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT00877994

08-0236

R34MH080750 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Nurture is a collaborative pilot study for mothers of children under the age of 3 who have suffered from disordered eating in the past. It is coordinated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University and Virginia Commonwealth University and sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health. Nurture hopes to promote confident parenting and a positive meal times.

Full description

Mothers who have struggled with disordered eating or body image struggles are often concerned how best to provide proper nutrition to their child and/or model healthy eating behavior. We have developed a curriculum that provides information about how to establish healthy eating patterns and social support for mothers with children under three years of age. The curriculum will be delivered in a support group format led by co-therapists affiliated with the UNC Eating Disorder Program.

Enrollment: 28 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Has met lifetime DSM-IV criteria for anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS: including subthreshold AN, BN, and purging disorder, but excluding BED)
• BMI > 18.5 maintained for at least three months
• Has not met threshold criteria for AN or BN in the previous 28 days according to the Eating Disorders Examination, although subthreshold status or active residual symptomatology will not preclude entry
• Age 18 or older
• Has a child between the ages of 1 month and 2 years, 12 months old

Exclusion criteria

• Alcohol or drug dependence in the past year
• Current significant suicidal ideation reported during the assessment or on the BDI-II at baseline
• Developmental disability that would impair the ability of the participant to benefit from the intervention
• Psychosis, including schizophrenia, or bipolar I disorder
• Any families who have been the subject of social service inquiries

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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28 participants in 2 patient groups

Immediate

Active Comparator group

Description:

This group will receive the nurture group therapy immediately after enrolling in the study.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Group therapy

Behavioral: Nurture Support Group Therapy

Delayed

Active Comparator group

Description:

This group will receive the nurture group therapy 16 weeks after enrolling in the study.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Group therapy

Behavioral: Nurture Support Group Therapy