An Exploratory Study of a Meditation-based Intervention for Binge Eating Disorder

The efficacy of a 6-week meditation-based group intervention for Binge Eating Disorder (BED) was evaluated in 18 obese women, using standard and eating-specific mindfulness meditation exercises. A single-group extended baseline design assessed all variables at 3 weeks pre-and post-, and at 1, 3, and 6 weeks; briefer assessment occurred weekly. Binges decreased in frequency, from 4.02/week to 1.57/week (p < .001), and in severity. Scores on the Binge Eating Scale (BES) and on the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories decreased significantly; sense of control increased. Time using eatingrelated meditations predicted decreases on the BES (r 5 .66, p < .01). Results suggest that meditation training may be an effective component in treating BED.

[1]  J. Kabat-Zinn,et al.  Three-year follow-up and clinical implications of a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction intervention in the treatment of anxiety disorders. , 1995, General hospital psychiatry.

[2]  T. Wadden,et al.  Binge eating disorder: To be or not to be in DSM‐IV , 1991 .

[3]  D. Goleman,et al.  The Meditative Mind: The Varieties of Meditative Experience , 1988 .

[4]  M. Epstein.  Thoughts Without a Thinker , 1995 .

[5]  S. Yanovski.  Binge eating disorder: current knowledge and future directions. , 1993, Obesity research.

[6]  John Gormally,et al.  The assessment of binge eating severity among obese persons. , 1982, Addictive behaviors.

[7]  Z. Segal,et al.  How does cognitive therapy prevent depressive relapse and why should attentional control (mindfulness) training help? , 1995, Behaviour research and therapy.

[8]  C. Fairburn,et al.  Binge eating: nature, assessment and treatment , 1993 .

[9]  D. Levinson,et al.  Effects of meditation on stress, health, and affect. , 1992 .

[10]  W. Agras,et al.  Binge eating increases with increasing adiposity , 1988 .

[11]  Sensory‐Specific Satiety in Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa , 1989, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[12]  J. Rubin.  Psychotherapy and Buddhism: Toward an Integration , 1996 .

[13]  R. Baumeister,et al.  Binge eating as escape from self-awareness. , 1991, Psychological bulletin.

[14]  J. Kabat-Zinn,et al.  Full catastrophe living : using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness , 1990 .

[15]  J. Rubin.  Psychotherapy and Buddhism , 1996 .

[16]  Susan ZelitchYanovski.  Binge eating disorder: current knowledge and future directions. , 1993, Obesity research.

[17]  B. Walsh,et al.  Behavioral assessment of satiety in bulimia nervosa , 1992, Appetite.

[18]  T. Wadden,et al.  Binge eating disorder should be included in DSM-IV: a reply to Fairburn et al.'s "the classification of recurrent overeating: the binge eating disorder proposal". , 1993, The International journal of eating disorders.

[19]  L. Pbert,et al.  Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders. , 1992, The American journal of psychiatry.

[20]  A. Beck,et al.  An inventory for measuring depression. , 1961, Archives of general psychiatry.

[21]  T. Wadden,et al.  Metabolic, anthropometric, and psychological characteristics of obese binge eaters. , 1993, The International journal of eating disorders.

[22]  Dc Washington.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Ed. , 1994 .

[23]  W. Agras,et al.  The eating patterns of non‐purging bulimic subjects , 1992 .

[24]  W. Stewart Agras,et al.  Weight loss, cognitive-behavioral, and desipramine treatments in binge eating disorder. An additive design , 1994 .

[25]  M. de Zwaan,et al.  Eating related and general psychopathology in obese females with binge eating disorder. , 1994, The International journal of eating disorders.

[26]  T. Wadden,et al.  Binge eating disorder: its further validation in a multisite study. , 1993, The International journal of eating disorders.

[27]  G. Alan Marlatt,et al.  Mindfulness and meditation. , 1999 .

[28]  D Waller,et al.  Binge Eating: A Transdiagnostic Psychopathology , 2020, Definitions.

[29]  W. Agras,et al.  Does interpersonal therapy help patients with binge eating disorder who fail to respond to cognitive-behavioral therapy? , 1995, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.