Comparison of the Effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Emotional Eating in Obese People

Obesity is a pervasive problem that can severely impair physical health. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy on emotional eating in obese people.

The present study had a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a follow-up and control group. Its statistical population included all patients referred to the counseling and psychological center of the Rahe Bartar in Qazvin in 2019 who were diagnosed with obesity by nutritionists. Using the purposive sampling method, 60 people were selected and randomly assigned to three groups (dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and the control-20 people in each group). Cognitive-behavioral and dialectical behavior therapies were performed for 10 sessions in the experimental groups, and no treatment was performed for the control group. The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire was completed by participants in the pretest, posttest, and six-month follow-up stages. A mixed analysis of variance test was used to analyze the data.

Due to the differences in test stages after performing two interventions of dialectical behavior and cognitive-behavioral therapies, the effectiveness of group membership and stage-group interaction was significant for all three emotional eating components (emotional, inhibition, and external styles); it was reduction effect (p<0.05). The effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy was greater than cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Based on the results of this study, dialectical behavior and cognitive-behavioral therapies can effectively reduce emotional eating in obese people.