Effects of feedback-assisted treatment on post-treatment outcome for eating disordered inpatients: A follow-up study

Megan M Bowen,Witold Simon,Tyler E Orr,Arjan Berkeljon,Michael Berrett,Michael J Lambert

doi:10.1080/23311908.2016.1191119

Megan M Bowen, Witold Simon + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2016.1191119

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Abstract

AbstractOnly one randomized clinical trial (RCT) has examined feedback-assisted (Fb) treatment in an inpatient eating disordered population. Results from this study suggested that those who received Fb treatment were more likely to recover than participants in the treatment-as-usual condition; however, long-term effects of this treatment have not been investigated. This is especially pertinent in eating disordered populations, where outcomes tend to be poor and course of illness chronic. In the current study, fifty-three women from the aforementioned RCT were contacted three to four years after leaving inpatient care to assess their current distress level and psychological functioning. Results suggested no significant difference between treatment conditions. The vast majority of women sought out multiple forms of treatment over the follow-up period, regardless of treatment condition. This is consistent with past research suggesting that women with more severe pathology (i.e. those requiring inpatient trea...

Highlights

In this era of accountability, clinicians have been placed under increasing pressure to demonstrate the effectiveness of their treatment in bringing about positive patient outcomes
Prior to conducting any outcome analyses, we examined how the individuals who participated in the follow-up study differed in terms of distress levels from those individuals we were unable to reach for follow-up
The post-treatment Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45) scores of our follow-up sample were compared with the non-follow-up sample across all treatment conditions

Summary

Introduction

In this era of accountability, clinicians have been placed under increasing pressure to demonstrate the effectiveness of their treatment in bringing about positive patient outcomes While much of this effort has been invested in the use of empirically supported treatments, alternative evidence-based practices are becoming increasingly popular. In the current line of research this refers to informing therapists that patients are predicted to have a negative treatment outcome, a phenomenon that they often fail to recognize and, an instance where feedback is likely to help (Hannan et al, 2005) It has been repeatedly demonstrated in clinical research that predictions relying on statistical or actuarial methods generally tend to fare better than clinical judgment alone (Grove, 2005). The CST intervention relies on assessment of therapeutic alliance, patient motivation, social support, and untoward life events with corresponding recommendations for effective actions to improve outcome (Lambert, Bailey, White, Tingey, & Stephens, 2015)

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