BACKGROUND

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a specialized treatment that has a growing evidence base for binge-spectrum eating disorders. However, cost and workforce capacity limit wide-scale uptake of DBT since it involves over 20 in-person sessions with a trained professional (and six sessions for guided self-help format). Interventions translated for delivery through modern technology offer a solution to increase the accessibility of evidence-based treatments. We developed the first DBT-specific skills training smartphone application (: ) for binge-spectrum eating disorders and evaluated its efficacy in a randomized clinical trial.

METHOD

Participants reporting recurrent binge eating were randomized to ( = 287) or a waitlist ( = 289). Primary outcomes were objective binge eating episodes and global levels of eating disorder psychopathology. Secondary outcomes were behavioral and cognitive symptoms, psychological distress, and the hypothesized processes of change (mindfulness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance).

RESULTS

Intention-to-treat analyses showed that the intervention group reported greater reductions in objective binge eating episodes (incidence rate ratio = 0.69) and eating disorder psychopathology ( = -0.68) than the waitlist at 6 weeks. Significant group differences favoring the intervention group were also observed on secondary outcomes, except for subjective binge eating, psychological distress, and distress tolerance. Primary symptoms showed further improvements from 6 to 12 weeks. However, dropout rate was high (48%) among the intervention group, and engagement decreased over the study period.

CONCLUSION

A novel, low-intensity DBT skills training app can effectively reduce symptoms of eating disorders. Scalable apps like these may increase the accessibility of evidence-based treatments.