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Purpose

The investigators will recruit individuals with broadly-defined AN (n = 80) who are currently in or have recently participated in higher-level eating disorder treatment (e.g., residential, partial hospitalization/day treatment, intensive outpatient treatment). Interested participants will sign consent, complete eligibility assessments, and will be randomized to receive Positive Affect Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa (PAT-AN) or Psychoeducation and Behavioral Therapy (PBT) through teletherapy shortly following discharge from higher level of care. Participants can participate in most other forms of outpatient treatment while receiving the research intervention. Participants will engage in 24 weeks of PAT-AN or PBT starting in the first 3 months post-discharge. At each session, the investigators will complete brief measures assessing treatment acceptability, affect, and eating disorder symptoms. Participants will also complete an assessment battery of self-report, EMA, and neurocognitive measures evaluating primary outcomes (BMI; eating disorder symptoms), secondary outcomes (depression, anxiety, and suicidality), and presumed treatment mechanisms at baseline, end of treatment (EOT), and 3-month follow-up (FU). All assessments will be remotely delivered via HIPAA-compliant platforms.

Condition

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Over 18 Years
Eligible Sex
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No

Inclusion Criteria

  1. Age > or = 18 years old 2. Ability to read and speak in English 3. DSM-5 diagnosis of AN or atypical AN at admission to higher-level care 4. In higher-level care discharging to outpatient care or discharged to outpatient care within the past 3 months 5. Current BMI > or = 18.5 kg/m2 (or will be by time of discharge) 6. BMI increase of > or = 0.5 kg/m2 while in higher-level care 7. Ability to designate and sign a release of information for a primary physical or mental health provider for study duration 8. Willingness to participate in weekly assessments (e.g., weight monitoring) and audio or video recording of study therapy sessions for study duration 9. Access to a smartphone and/or computer permitting engagement in remote therapy and assessment.

Exclusion Criteria

  1. Medical instability for outpatient care; 2. Pregnancy 3. Lifetime DSM-5 primary psychotic or bipolar-I disorder 4. Current DSM-5 substance use disorder 5. Enrollment in outpatient therapy with highly overlapping content to PAT-AN

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Primary Purpose
Treatment
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Positive Affect Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa (PAT-AN):
  • Behavioral: Positive Affect Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa (PAT-AN):
    PAT-AN is an adaptation of the cognitive-behavioral outpatient individual therapy for anhedonia (17, 68). The overarching aim of PAT-AN is to enhance reward sensitivity (reward anticipation, experiencing, and learning) to non-eating disorder experiences and to decrease or replace reward sensitivity to weight-loss experiences (26). PAT-AN includes 6 sequential modules, each designated to target specific reward sensitivity disturbances (26, 68). Homework and experiential practice during sessions are essential components of PAT-AN, and participants are provided a workbook to assist with this practice. During each session, collaborative homework review is followed by skill development and homework assignments.
Active Comparator
Psychoeducational and Behavioral Therapy (PBT):
  • Behavioral: Psychoeducational and Behavioral Therapy (PBT)
    The comparison treatment is modeled off of educational and behavioral interventions used in prior clinical trials for AN and common elements of standard behavioral eating disorder treatments. The treatment is structured to parallel the modular format of PAT-AN.

Recruiting Locations

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond 4781708, Virginia 6254928 23298

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Virginia Commonwealth University

Study Contact

Kira Venables
(804)828-2658
venableskg@vcu.edu

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.