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Porto, Portugal | September 20-22, 2012
43
F1
DOES STAGE OF CHANGE PREDICT TREATMENT OUT-
COME IN PATIENTS WITH EATING DISORDERS?
Diann M Ackard
1,2
, Sara Richter
3
, Catherine Cronemeyer
1
,
Amber Egan
1
, Elizabeth Fichtel
1
1
Melrose Institute, St Louis Park, MN, USA,
2
Private Practice,
Golden Valley, MN, USA,
3
Minnesota Department of Health,
St Paul, MN, USA
INTRODUCTION: To determine if stage of change (precon-
templation, contemplation, preparation/action) is a predictor
of treatment outcome. METHODS: Data come from 182
male and female patients (96.2% female, 92.3% Caucasian)
seeking ED treatment at a multiple-milieu facility in the US.
Intake diagnoses were 19.2% AN; 30.8% BN and 50.0%
EDNOS. Patients completed a self-report, ED-symptom-spe-
cific measure for stage of change determination at intake
(EDSOC; Ackard et al, 2009), and ED, depression and anxiety
measures at intake and 3, 6 and 12 months following intake.
Repeated measures linear regression models with autore-
gressive correlation structure were utilized to predict treat-
ment outcome RESULTS: Approximately one-third of patients
were in preparation/action stage across all eating disorder
symptoms at intake (30.2%) and 3 (36.7%), 6 (32.9%) and
12-month (30.2%) follow-up. Overall stage of change at intake
was not predictive of treatment outcome for dietary restraint
or concerns about eating, weight or shape. However, stage
of change at intake assessment marginally predicted depres-
sion and significantly predicted anxiety scores at follow-up.
CONCLUSIONS: Only a small percentage of treatment-seek-
ing patients are in preparation/action stage; future research
should endeavor to identify strategies for increasing moti-
vation toward eating disorder symptom reduction and absti-
nence. In addition, factors predictive of treatment outcome
warrant further exploration.
F2
BRAINSTIM - A COMPUTERIZED WORKING MEMORY
TRAINING IN PATIENTS WITH ANOREXIA NERVOSA: A
PILOT STUDY
Natalia Adamski
1
, Barbara Rost
2
, Allan Di Gallo
3
, Klaus
Schmeck
2
, Peter Weber
4
, Klaus Opwis
1
, Iris-Katharina Pen-
ner
1
1
University Basel, Basel, Switzerland,
2
Department of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Psychiatric Hospitals ,
Basel, Switzerland,
3
Department of Child and Adolescent Psy-
chiatry, Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Basel-Land,
Basel, Switzerland,
4
Division of Neuropediatrics and Develop-
mental Medicine, Basel, Switzerland
INTRODUCTION: Working memory deficits are associated
with rigid thinking in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and
may contribute to and maintain the illness. Hence, general
improvement in working memory may have favourable effects
on outcome. This study investigates the efficacy or effective-
ness of a computerized intervention tool (
BrainStim
) targeted
on working memory. METHODS: Cognitive performance is
tested using the
Ravello Profile
before and after the cogni-
tive intervention. Additional assessments sensitive to reflect
working memory functioning (Digit span and Corsi blocks
backward, 2- and 3-back, RAVLT) are applied. The
BrainStim
training procedure lasts four weeks with 16 sessions of 45
minutes duration. A 6 months and 1 year follow-up are in-
tended. RESULTS: Data collection is still ongoing. To date we
have treated seven participants, who performed on average
or above on all tasks of the
Ravello Profile at baseline
. During
training with
BrainStim
, all subjects improved significantly
over time on the different working memory modules indicating
strong learning potentials. A general increase was observed
by comparing pre- and post-intervention performance on the
neuropsychological tests Some ameliorations were stable
over a
6 months
period. CONCLUSION: Since all seven par-
ticipants considerably improved during training and on some
cognitive outcomes, the treatment holds promise and will be
verified on a larger sample.
F3
DOES SHORT-TERM FASTING PROMOTE CHANGES IN
BODY IMAGE?
Drew A. Anderson, Katherine E. Schaumberg
University at Albany - State University of New York, Albany,
NY, USA
Some studies indicate that fasting, or going at least 24-hours
without food, represents an important risk factor for the devel-
opment of eating pathology. Presumably, individuals who seek
to lose weight receive reinforcement for caloric deprivation
through acute weight reductions. It is possible that improve-
ments in one’s body image after acute caloric restriction
may also reinforce this behavior. The current study seeks to
examine this hypothesis by evaluating individuals’ responses
in body image after a short-term fast. Participants (N = 135)
in this ongoing study attended an appointment before fasting,
and they completed survey measures of body image and
eating pathology. Participants attended an appointment at the
end of their fast, in which they reported on the success of their
fast and completed the Body Image States Scale (BISS), a
six-item measure that evaluates the degree to which individu-
als are currently satisfied with their body. Analyses evaluated
the degree to which individuals show change in their body
image after fasting, and whether eating disorder risk factors
predicted change in body image. Participants in this study
did show an overall reduction in weight after fasting. Partici-
pants also displayed a wide range of changes in mean BISS
scores (-2.67 – +5.67 points). Preliminary analyses indicate
that pre-fasting levels of dietary restraint predicted improve-
ment in body image after fasting, b = .31, p <.05, and weight
loss did not predict changes in state body image. In addition,
participants who endorsed fasting in the past 28 days (N = 38)
displayed more improvement in body image after the exper-
imental fast compared with participants who did not endorse
fasting for weight control, t (130) = 2.00, p <.05, d = .35..
Results from this investigation suggest that at-risk individuals
may receive reinforcement for engaging in problematic eating
patterns through improvement in state body image. Short-
term improvements in state body image, then, may represent
one mechanism that promotes the development of problemat-
ic eating patterns including meal skipping and fasting.
F4
A BRIEF FORM OF INTERPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY
FOR ADULT PATIENTS WITH BULIMICA DISORDERS: A
PILOT STUDY
Jon Arcelus
1,2
, Debbie Whight
2
, Nicky Brewin
2
, Lesley Mc-
grain
2
1
Loughborough University Centre for Research into Eating
Disorders, Loughborough University,, Loughborough, United
Kingdom,
2
Leicester eating disorders service, Leicestershire
partnership NHS Trust, Leicester, United Kingdom
IPT has been adapted to be used with different populations,
including bulimia nervosa (IPT-BN; Fairburn, 1993) and
bulimic disorders (IPT-BNm; Whight et al 2011). IPT uses
a time frame of 12-20 weekly sessions. Arcelus et al., 2009
found that patients treated with IPT BNm had a significant
reduction in eating disordered cognitions and behaviours by
the middle of therapy. As demands for time-limited therapy are
increasing as a means to making more effective use of limited
resources a brief form (10 sessions) of IPT for patients with
Bulimic Disorders was developed (IPT-BN10). IPT-BN10 was
collaboratively developed by collecting the views of 6 IPT ther-
apists and 14 patients with bulimic disorders who participated
in semi-structured interviews (Haslam, McDermott, Arcelus,
Farrow and Meyer, 2011). In a pilot study ten patients with
bulimic disorder were treated with IPT BN10. They complet-
ed measurements of eating disorders psychopathology and
depression. The results were matched with a group of patients
treated with conventional IPT and with waiting list control.
Statistical differences were found between starting and ending
of therapy for those patients treated with IPT-BN10. Statistical
difference was also found when comparing with waiting list
POSTER SESSION 2 ABSTRACTS - FRIDAY
POSTER SESSION 2 ABSTRACTS