Jennifer Svaldi1, Christina Dorn, Monika Trentowska. 1. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg, Germany. jennifer.svaldi@psychologie.uni-freiburg.de
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Therapeutic programs for binge eating disorder (BED) often include the mediation of problem-solving skills to deal with the desire to binge. In women with BED, problem-solving abilities have not been studied yet. Knowing that reasons for binge episodes are often linked to interpersonal topics, we expected women with BED to have poorer problem-solving abilities than healthy controls (HC). METHODS: Twenty-five women with BED and 30 overweight HC were given a shortened version of the Means-Ends Problem-Solving Procedure (MEPS). Dependent variables were the number of relevant means, the effectiveness and the specificity of the generated solution. RESULTS: Generated solutions in the group of women with BED were significantly less effective and less specific compared to HC. Moreover, reduced effectiveness of interpersonal problem-solving was related to increased binge frequency. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the importance of teaching problem-solving ability in individuals with BED to promote behaviour change.
OBJECTIVE: Therapeutic programs for binge eating disorder (BED) often include the mediation of problem-solving skills to deal with the desire to binge. In women with BED, problem-solving abilities have not been studied yet. Knowing that reasons for binge episodes are often linked to interpersonal topics, we expected women with BED to have poorer problem-solving abilities than healthy controls (HC). METHODS: Twenty-five women with BED and 30 overweight HC were given a shortened version of the Means-Ends Problem-Solving Procedure (MEPS). Dependent variables were the number of relevant means, the effectiveness and the specificity of the generated solution. RESULTS: Generated solutions in the group of women with BED were significantly less effective and less specific compared to HC. Moreover, reduced effectiveness of interpersonal problem-solving was related to increased binge frequency. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the importance of teaching problem-solving ability in individuals with BED to promote behaviour change.
Authors: Jenni Leppanen; Dalia Brown; Hannah McLinden; Steven Williams; Kate Tchanturia Journal: Front Psychiatry Date: 2022-02-23 Impact factor: 4.157