Abstract

Background

E-mental health has become increasingly popular in interventions for individuals with eating disorders (EDs). It has the potential to offer low-threshold interventions and guide individuals to the needed care more promptly. Featback is such an Internet-based intervention and consists of psychoeducation and a fully automated monitoring and feedback system. Preliminary findings suggest Featback to be (cost-)effective in reducing ED symptomatology. Additionally, e-mail or chat support by a psychologist did not enhance the effectiveness of Featback. Support by an expert patient (someone with a lived experience of an ED) might be more effective, since that person can effectively model healthy behavior and enhance self-efficacy in individuals struggling with an ED. The present study aims to replicate and build on earlier findings by further investigating the (cost-)effectiveness of Featback and the added value of expert-patient support.

Methods

The study will be a randomized controlled trial with a two-by-two factorial design with repeated measures. The four conditions will be (1) Featback, in which participants receive automated feedback on a short monitoring questionnaire weekly, (2) Featback with weekly e-mail or chat support from an expert patient, (3) weekly support from an expert patient, and (4) a waiting list. Participants who are 16 years or older and have at least mild self-reported ED symptoms receive a baseline measure. Subsequently, they are randomized to one of the four conditions for 8 weeks. Participants will be assessed again post-intervention and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months follow-up. The primary outcome measure will be ED psychopathology. Secondary outcome measures are experienced social support, self-efficacy, symptoms of anxiety and depression, user satisfaction, intervention usage, and help-seeking attitudes and behaviors.

Discussion

The current study is the first to investigate e-mental health in combination with expert-patient support for EDs and will add to the optimization of the delivery of Internet-based interventions and expert-patient support.

Trial registration

Netherlands Trial Register, NTR7065. Registered on 7 June 2018.

Details

Title
A randomized controlled trial of an Internet-based intervention for eating disorders and the added value of expert-patient support: study protocol
Author
Rohrbach, Pieter J. 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Dingemans, Alexandra E. 2 ; Spinhoven, Philip 3 ; Van den Akker-Van Marle, Elske 4 ; Van Ginkel, Joost R. 5 ; Fokkema, Marjolein 5 ; Moessner, Markus 6 ; Bauer, Stephanie 6 ; Van Furth, Eric F. 7 

1  GGZ Rivierduinen Eetstoornissen Ursula, Leiden, the Netherlands (GRID:grid.468622.c) (ISNI:0000 0004 0501 8787) 
2  GGZ Rivierduinen Eetstoornissen Ursula, Leiden, the Netherlands (GRID:grid.468622.c) (ISNI:0000 0004 0501 8787); Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands (GRID:grid.5132.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2312 1970) 
3  Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands (GRID:grid.5132.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2312 1970); Leiden University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Leiden, the Netherlands (GRID:grid.10419.3d) (ISNI:0000000089452978) 
4  Leiden University Medical Center, Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Section Medical Decision Making, Leiden, the Netherlands (GRID:grid.10419.3d) (ISNI:0000000089452978) 
5  Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands (GRID:grid.5132.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2312 1970) 
6  University of Heidelberg, Center for Psychotherapy Research, Heidelberg, Germany (GRID:grid.7700.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2190 4373) 
7  GGZ Rivierduinen Eetstoornissen Ursula, Leiden, the Netherlands (GRID:grid.468622.c) (ISNI:0000 0004 0501 8787); Leiden University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Leiden, the Netherlands (GRID:grid.10419.3d) (ISNI:0000000089452978) 
Pages
509
Publication year
2019
Publication date
Dec 2019
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
e-ISSN
17456215
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3574-2
ProQuest document ID
2795376854
Copyright
© The Author(s). 2019. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.