The effectiveness of emotion-based cognitive-behavioral therapy on body compassion and reduce the symptoms of binge eating in patients with binge eating disorders: A case study

Binge eating disorder leads to changes in food intake and absorption and impairs the health function and quality of life of the affected person. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of emotion-based cognitive behavioral therapy on body compassion and reduction of symptoms of binge eating in women with binge eating disorder.

In this study, a single-case research design of multiple baseline type was selected. First, the participants entered the baseline and randomly entered the stage of emotion-based cognitive behavioral therapy stage, respectively. The statistical population included all people with binge eating disorder in the year 2022 in Isfahan. Snowball method was used for sampling and 4 people with this disorder who had inclusion criteria were selected as the research sample. Binge eating and body compassion questionnaires were used as evaluation tools in pre-test and follow-up stages. Emotion-based cognitive behavioral therapy sessions were conducted in 14 sessions of 60 minutes.

Findings:

 The plotted graph, percentage improvement formula, and the reliable change index showed that after emotion-based cognitive behavioral therapy 60.22 percent improvement in body compassion and 40.66 percent improvement in binge eating symptoms, and this improvement rate shows a high level of treatment effect.

Therefore, it can be said that the emotion-based cognitive-behavioral therapy protocol has been effective in increasing the scores of body compassion and reducing the symptoms of binge eating in the participants.