Effectiveness of Group Schema Therapy on Eating Attitude and Self-Regulation in Overweight Adolescent Females with Binge Eating Disorder

Obesity and overweight are among the most common health problems in adolescence, which is rapidly increasing as a serious threat to health. Eating attitude is one of the most crucial issues in eating disorders that include beliefs, thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and relationships with food. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of group schema-therapy on eating attitude and self-regulation of overweight adolescent females with binge eating disorder.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted using a pretest-posttest design with a three-month follow-up. In total, 30 female students were selected purposefully within the age range of 15-17 years and body mass index of 25-29.9 from high schools in Sari, Iran during 2018. Subsequently, according to the obtained score of 17 and higher in the binge eating scale, they were assigned into two experimental (n=15) and control groups (n=15) using a randomized complete block design. The experimental group participated in 13[Z1]  group schema therapy sessions of 1.5 h weekly. Both groups were assessed again one week after the intervention and three months after the last session of the treatment. The data were collected using the Binge Eating Scale, Young Schemas Questionnaire with 90-question Short Form, Eating Attitude Test-26, and self-regulation questionnaire. Moreover, the data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 22) through repeated measures of ANOVA and covariance analysis.

The results indicated significant differences between pretest and posttest regarding the eating attitude and self-regulation scores in the experimental group, which were consistent until the follow-up stage (P<0.05).

According to the results of this study, it is recommended that clinical specialists use the group schema therapy approach in the treatment of people with binge eating disorder.