Attention Training and Its Effects on Body Image Disturbance

NCT ID: NCT01110265

Last Updated: 2010-04-26

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 32 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2009-06-30
• Study Completion Date: 2010-01-31

Brief Summary

Research has consistently found attentional biases towards negative weight-related stimuli in individuals with eating disorders. It has been suggested that these biases may act as a vulnerability factor for the development and maintenance of body dissatisfaction and may therefore be an important target for intervention. Previous studies have demonstrated the capacity to modify the patterns of attention allocation to threatening stimuli in a variety of anxiety disorders, with a subsequent and sustained reduction in anxiety symptoms. Thus, the present study aimed at testing the efficacy of attention training in reducing attentional biases and eating disorder symptoms in individuals with elevated levels of body image disturbance and eating disorder symptomatology of clinical severity. Thirty-two participants were randomly allocated to receive eight sessions of a 10-minute computer task aimed at training their attention away from weight-related stimuli or a control placebo training condition. Results showed that participants in the attention training group had a significantly greater reduction in their attentional bias and body dissatisfaction from pre- to post-training relative to the placebo condition. At follow-up, both groups showed a significant decrease in body dissatisfaction from their pre-training levels. The only significant difference between groups in eating disorder symptoms at follow-up was in terms of the attention training group experiencing a greater reduction in weight and shape concerns.

Conditions

Body Dissatisfaction; Eating Disorder Symptoms

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

placebo training

Group Type: PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

placebo training

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

attention training

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

attention training

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Interventions

attention training

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

placebo training

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• If they have a score on the Body Shape Questionnaire of 113 or more AND a score in the EDE-Q of 4 or more in any subscale.

Exclusion Criteria

• attention bias score of <-10

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 37 Years
• Eligible Sex: FEMALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

University of Sydney

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

The University of Sydney

Locations

The University of Sydney

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Countries

Australia

Other Identifiers

USydney11760

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id