Testing the Effects of RISE on Eating Pathology

Auburn University

Status: Active, not recruiting

Conditions: Eating Disorder Symptoms

Treatments: Behavioral: Reconnecting to Internal Sensations and Experiences

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05837312

00001104

Details and patient eligibility

About

Interoception is the process of perceiving one's bodily sensations. Interoception is critical for survival and maintaining homeostasis, as it motivates sensation- and need-specific autonomic reflexes and adaptive behaviors (e.g., eating when hungry, terminating eating upon fullness, drinking when thirsty). Not all individuals have accurate interoceptive abilities. Individuals with eating disorders often have low perception of gastrointestinal, pain, and emotion sensations. Interoceptive dysfunction is believed to influence the development and maintenance of many forms of psychopathology. Identifying effective ways to restore accurate interoceptive processing is an important aim for clinical researchers. The goal of the present study is to continue to test the effectiveness of a training for interoceptive dysfunction that aims to reconnect individuals with eating disorders with their internal sensations, which is called, Reconnecting to Internal Sensations.

Full description

There are individual differences in how well people are able to recognize interoceptive sensations. Research supports a role for impaired interoception in the etiology of eating disorders (EDs), with the idea being that individuals who are out of touch with hunger and/or satiety are more vulnerable to restrictive and binge eating behaviors, respectively. Researchers have connected interoceptive impairment to self-injurious behaviors more broadly, including both direct (i.e., non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempts) and indirect (i.e., ED behaviors) forms. The investigators have found support for the supposition that impaired interoception-or bodily disconnect-allows people to inflict pain (whether that be through ED behaviors or self-injury) upon themselves, as it is much easier to harm something one is unattached to versus something one cares for. Thus, improving interoception (e.g., helping people connect better with their bodies) may improve ED outcomes. This project seeks to test an accessible, online intervention designed to improve interoception and thereby reduce ED symptoms.

Enrollment: 50 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 10 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Clinical diagnosis of an eating disorder
• Be a patient at the Louisville Center for Eating Disorders
• Above age 10

Exclusion criteria

*Under age 10

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

50 participants in 1 patient group

Reconnecting to Internal Sensations and Experiences

Experimental group

Description:

The interoceptive training consists of four 25-30 minute modules (plus 15-minutes worth of optional weekly practice) that focus on multiple aspects of interoception including: body awareness, body sensations and movement, eating, health and selfcare, emotional awareness, and understanding the self in relation to others. These modules are delivered weekly.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Reconnecting to Internal Sensations and Experiences