Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-dfsvx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T11:47:12.864Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Patient motivations for seeking online therapy for binge eating disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

T. Holmberg ,
E. Jensen ,
J. Bindzus ,
M. Lichtenstein  and
K. Tarp
T. Holmberg*
Affiliation:
Research Unit For Telepsychiatry And Emental Health, Centre for Telepsychiatry, Odense C, Denmark
E. Jensen
Affiliation:
Research Unit For Telepsychiatry And Emental Health, Centre for Telepsychiatry, Odense C, Denmark Centre For Telepsychiatry, Mental Health Services in the Region of Southern Denmark, Odense C, Denmark
J. Bindzus
Affiliation:
Research Unit For Telepsychiatry And E-mental Health, Centre For Telepsychiatry, Mental Health Services in the Region of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
M. Lichtenstein
Affiliation:
Research Unit For Telepsychiatry And E-mental Health, Centre For Telepsychiatry, Mental Health Services in the Region of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
K. Tarp
Affiliation:
Research Unit For Telepsychiatry And E-mental Health, Centre For Telepsychiatry, Mental Health Services in the Region of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Introduction

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is characterized by repeatedly losing control over eating behavior and consuming large amounts of food within a short period of time. In later years, a growing body of evidence for effectiveness of internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (iCBT) as treatment for BED has emerged. Regarding the ability to complete a self-help program on the internet, internal self-regulation can be viewed as important.

Objectives

To qualitatively explore patient motivations for seeking therapy for BED according to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as well as patient reasons for seeking online therapy.

Methods

The research design of this study was qualitatively. The participants were 52 adults suffering from mild to moderate BED. Data consisted of written texts entered by the participants into the online therapy program. The texts addressed the participants’ goals for their treatment course and their motives for seeking online therapy. The texts were analyzed by the means of systematic text condensation.

Results

Pertaining patient motivations for seeking therapy for BED, five main motivations that reached a saturated level in the sample were discovered: wish for control; avoidance of guilt/shame; desire for tools/insights; weight loss; and psychological stress. Participants ranged from one motivational factor to four, no participant had all the motivational factors. Regarding patient reasons for seeking online therapy, the following themes including sub themes were found: online treatment, treatment at home, and flexible treatment.

Conclusions

The results indicate that online therapy for BED may be able to breach some of the barriers there are towards treatment seeking.

Keywords

Internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapybinge eating disorderqualitativemotivation
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S354
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.