Binge Eating Anxiety and Mood

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is the most common eating disorder, and currently, the best behavioral treatments only work for 40-60% of adults. BED often co-occurs with mood and anxiety disorders, and both are associated with neurocognitive deficits related to executive function (EF). These EF deficits contribute to worsening BED symptoms and make it difficult for these adults to adhere to treatment recommendations. The proposed study aims to develop an EF training enhanced behavioral treatment for BED and compare its effectiveness to the standard cognitive behavioral therapy for patients with BED and a co-occurring mood or anxiety disorder.

A randomized controlled trial (RCT) will evaluate an EF training enhanced cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for BED (EF-BED+CBT) compared to standard CBT in patients with BED and a comorbid mood/anxiety disorder to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of EF-BED+CBT in reducing binge eating, impairment, and comorbid depression/anxiety symptoms. Adult participants with BED and comorbid mood/anxiety disorder will be randomized to a four month remote treatment of either EF-BED+CBT or CBT alone. Participants will be assessed at baseline, following treatment (month 4) and 2-month follow-up (month 6).