Skills-based therapy may curb eating disorders

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who suffer from bulimia or binge-eating disorder and who have borderline personality may be helped with "dialectical behavior therapy," results of a pilot study suggest.

Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, is a form of cognitive-behavior therapy originally developed for women with borderline personality disorder -- a disorder characterized by recurrent suicidal behavior and multiple problem behaviors.

Standard DBT is a comprehensive, multi-component "life skills-based" treatment targeting behaviors that threaten a person's life and interfere with therapy and overall quality of life. DBT helps people be mindful of their emotions and regulate their emotions and tolerate life's ups and downs.

Dr. Eunice Y. Chen from the University of Chicago, Illinois, and colleagues studied the impact of standard DBT, consisting of weekly skills group training, individual DBT, therapist consultation team meetings, and as-needed telephone coaching, in eight women with borderline personality disorder and either bulimia or binge-eating disorder.

Half of the women reported an emergency room visit for suicidal or self-injurious behavior in the year prior to the study. Six of the eight women were currently on psychotropic medications.

In the International Journal of Eating Disorders, Chen and colleagues report that DBT improved social functioning and reduced nonsuicidal self-injury behavior and suicidal behavior (there were no attempts during treatment), as well as binge-eating behavior and concerns about eating disorders.

However, "there was some concern that 6 months of treatment was insufficient," Chen and colleagues say, noting that one women made a "serious suicide" attempt during the 6 months following treatment. Some women in the study told their therapists that treatment was too short.

Overall, the researchers say, his study provides promising preliminary data for larger studies using DBT for people with bulimia or binge eating and borderline personality disorder.

SOURCE: International Journal of Eating Disorders, September 2008.