Eating Disorder Symptoms
Conditions
Brief summary
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.
Detailed 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.
Interventions
Reconnecting to Internal Sensations and Experiences (RISE) is a novel, self-guided interoceptive intervention designed to be accessible and convenient. RISE is hosted on Qualtrics and accessed on any internet-enabled device. RISE consists of four interactive 30-minute modules: (1) Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Body Functionality, (2) Understanding, Noticing and Managing Emotions, (3) Self-care and Communication, and (4) Body Sensations. The training consists of a mix of audio clips, psychoeducation, self-guided reading, and interactive writing prompts. Intervention materials are separated by multiple free-response prompts so that participants can relate the materials to their own lives, practice the introduced skills, and problem-solve difficulties implementing the skills.
Sponsors
Auburn University
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
10 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
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
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, Version 2 | Within one week of completing the intervention | The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, Version 2 is 37-item scale that has 8 subscales that measure the ability to recognize and accurately identify emotions and physiological sensations. Each item is rated on a 0-5 Likert scale, thus total scores can range from 0-185. Higher scores indicate better interoceptive awareness. |
| Eating Disorder Inventory - Interoceptive Deficits Subscale | Within one week of completing the intervention | 10 item subscale assessing interoceptive deficits, including gastrointestinal interoception |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire | Within one week of completing the intervention | The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire is a self-report assessment of eating disorder symptoms that assesses eating disorder behaviors (e.g., excessive exercise, binging, purging, fasting) and includes 4 subscales: weight concerns, shape concerns, restraint, and eating concerns. Items are rated on a 0 (No days) to 6 (Every day) scale. The global score is computed by summing the items and taking the mean, thus scores can range from 0-6. Higher scores indicate more eating pathology. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Treatment Acceptability Questionnaire | Within one week of completing the intervention | The Treatment Acceptability Questionnaire (TAQ) is a 6-item self-report assessment of the acceptability of the treatment. However in the current study the item pertaining to How knowledgeable the psychologist is will be removed as the intervention is delivered online; thus, the TAQ will be assessed with 5 items. Items are rated on a 1-7 Likert scale, and scores can range from 1-35. Higher scores indicate more treatment acceptability. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed