Research code: این مقاله برگرفته از رساله دکتری میباشد
Ethics code: IR.IAU.SARI.REC.1399.154
Clinical trials code: IRCT20210407050888N1
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Sari Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran , abasighodrat@gmail.com
Abstract: (944 Views)
Background & Aims: Eating disorder is one of the worrisome issues in the field of public health, which is characterized by episodes of regular binge eating. During this disorder, people eat relatively large amounts of food and lose control over their eating behavior. The global prevalence of eating disorders in 2018-2020 is estimated at 0.6 (1.8 percent) in adult women and 0.3 (0.7 percent) in adult men. Eating disorders are usually associated with obesity and physical and mental illnesses. People with this disorder experience significant problems and impairments in the quality of life. (1) An eating disorder is a complex health problem resulting from a combination of causes and individual factors such as behavior and genetics. These behaviors can include lack of physical activity, inactivity, incorrect eating pattern, use of medication and others. Eating disorder is associated with poor mental health and reduced quality of life (2). Also, the main causes of death are eating disorders, diabetes, heart diseases, strokes and some types of cancer (3). Based on this, one of the factors of binge eating disorder is eating behavior, which may continue even after treatment (4). Among the things that can increase the incidence of this disorder are self-criticism (5), shame (6), guilt (7), social isolation (8) and psychological distress (9).
Among the factors that increase the prevalence and severity of eating disorder is social isolation (10). Social isolation means the lack of weakness of relationships between a person and other people, groups and society (11, 12), which also affects eating behaviors and causes eating disorders and related disorders (10). A systematic review in this field showed that social isolation increases unhealthy eating behaviors and eating disorders (14).
Psychological distress is one of the problems that appear with eating disorders. Psychological distress includes unpleasant mental states including depression, anxiety and stress, all three of the mentioned disorders include symptoms of emotional and physiological conditions (16, 17). People with high mental distress complain more about the symptoms of physical illness and the frequency of physical illnesses is a strong predictor of the occurrence of damage in their physical, psychological and social functioning (18). Psychological distress is common with eating disorders and can exacerbate the severity of the eating disorder (22).
Several interventions have been used to reduce the psychological problems of people with eating disorders. Among these interventions, one of the intervention treatments that has received less attention is the treatment focused on compassion (26). Compassion-focused therapy is a system of psychotherapy developed by Gilbert that integrates techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy with concepts from developmental psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, Buddhist psychology, and neuroscience (27 (. The goal of compassion-focused therapy is to help people heal emotionally and psychologically by encouraging them to be compassionate with themselves and others. Many people believe that compassion, both with oneself and with others, is an emotional response and an important aspect of well-being. The advantage of promoting compassion is increasing emotional and mental health (28). By using the compassionate approach, researchers were able to reduce the shame and self-criticism of people with eating disorders (32).
Therefore, considering the medical and psychological consequences of this disorder that can lead to the risk of suicide, the use of psychological interventions to prevent the consequences of this disorder is of great importance and necessity. The present study tries to answer the question of whether the treatment focused on compassion is effective on social isolation and psychological distress of people with eating disorders.
Methods: This was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design and a follow-up phase with an experimental group and a control group. The statistical population of the research was women aged 18 to 40 years old in Tehran who had visited Hakim obesity clinic in 1401. In order to carry out the research, 30 people from the mentioned society were selected in the available way and randomly divided into experimental group and control group (15 people in each group). Therapeutic intervention was performed for 8 sessions on the experimental group and no training was provided to the control group. The tools used in this research are the 26-item EAT questionnaire (Garner and Kerfinkel, 1982) with 26 items for the eating disorder scale, the 21-item DASS questionnaire (DASS) of Lavibond with 21 items for the psychological distress scale, the questionnaire (Russell, Pilova and Cortona, 1980) It was with 20 items for the social isolation scale, which was completed in two phases: pre-test, post-test and follow-up. The experimental group received compassion-focused therapy training for 8 sessions of 60 minutes, and the control group received no intervention. The data was analyzed using the repeated measurement analysis method and spss.22 software.
Results: The average (standard deviation) age in the experimental group was 3 people (20%) from 18 to 25 years, 7 people (46.67%) from 26 to 33 years, and 5 people (33.33%) from 34 to 40 years and in the control group 4 people (26.67 percent) were 18 to 25 years old, 7 people (46.67 percent) were 26 to 33 years old, and 4 people (26.67 percent) were 34 to 40 years old. Also, in the experimental group, the mean (standard deviation) of psychological distress decreased from 49.20 (7.82) in the pre-test to 46.86 (7.79) in the post-test and to 47.13 (7.97) in the post-test. ) increased in the follow-up phase. (P < 0/001). The results of analysis of variance were significant for the within-group factor (time) and significant between groups. Also, the interaction of group and time was significant. The pairwise comparison of the groups showed that there is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test and pre-test and follow-up stages in social isolation, that is, the scores decreased from the pre-test stage to the follow-up stage (p<0.001). Comparisons in the group under the educational intervention showed that there is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test and pre-test and follow-up stages in reducing psychological distress. It means that the scores have increased from the pre-test stage to the follow-up stage. While there was no difference between the post-test and follow-up stages in reducing psychological distress (p>0.001).
Conclusion: The aim of this study was the effectiveness of compassion-based therapy on social isolation and psychological distress in women with eating disorders. The findings of this research showed that compassion-based therapy reduced social isolation and psychological distress in women with eating disorders in the training group.
Among the factors that increase the prevalence and severity of eating disorder is social isolation (10). Social isolation means the lack of weakness of relationships between a person and other people, groups and society (11, 12), which also affects eating behaviors and causes eating disorders and related disorders (10). A systematic review in this field showed that social isolation increases unhealthy eating behaviors and eating disorders (14).
Psychological distress is one of the problems that appear with eating disorders. Psychological distress includes unpleasant mental states including depression, anxiety and stress, all three of the mentioned disorders include symptoms of emotional and physiological conditions (16, 17). People with high mental distress complain more about the symptoms of physical illness and the frequency of physical illnesses is a strong predictor of the occurrence of damage in their physical, psychological and social functioning (18). Psychological distress is common with eating disorders and can exacerbate the severity of the eating disorder (22).
Several interventions have been used to reduce the psychological problems of people with eating disorders. Among these interventions, one of the intervention treatments that has received less attention is the treatment focused on compassion (26). Compassion-focused therapy is a system of psychotherapy developed by Gilbert that integrates techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy with concepts from developmental psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, Buddhist psychology, and neuroscience (27 (. The goal of compassion-focused therapy is to help people heal emotionally and psychologically by encouraging them to be compassionate with themselves and others. Many people believe that compassion, both with oneself and with others, is an emotional response and an important aspect of well-being. The advantage of promoting compassion is increasing emotional and mental health (28). By using the compassionate approach, researchers were able to reduce the shame and self-criticism of people with eating disorders (32).
Therefore, considering the medical and psychological consequences of this disorder that can lead to the risk of suicide, the use of psychological interventions to prevent the consequences of this disorder is of great importance and necessity. The present study tries to answer the question of whether the treatment focused on compassion is effective on social isolation and psychological distress of people with eating disorders.
Methods: This was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design and a follow-up phase with an experimental group and a control group. The statistical population of the research was women aged 18 to 40 years old in Tehran who had visited Hakim obesity clinic in 1401. In order to carry out the research, 30 people from the mentioned society were selected in the available way and randomly divided into experimental group and control group (15 people in each group). Therapeutic intervention was performed for 8 sessions on the experimental group and no training was provided to the control group. The tools used in this research are the 26-item EAT questionnaire (Garner and Kerfinkel, 1982) with 26 items for the eating disorder scale, the 21-item DASS questionnaire (DASS) of Lavibond with 21 items for the psychological distress scale, the questionnaire (Russell, Pilova and Cortona, 1980) It was with 20 items for the social isolation scale, which was completed in two phases: pre-test, post-test and follow-up. The experimental group received compassion-focused therapy training for 8 sessions of 60 minutes, and the control group received no intervention. The data was analyzed using the repeated measurement analysis method and spss.22 software.
Results: The average (standard deviation) age in the experimental group was 3 people (20%) from 18 to 25 years, 7 people (46.67%) from 26 to 33 years, and 5 people (33.33%) from 34 to 40 years and in the control group 4 people (26.67 percent) were 18 to 25 years old, 7 people (46.67 percent) were 26 to 33 years old, and 4 people (26.67 percent) were 34 to 40 years old. Also, in the experimental group, the mean (standard deviation) of psychological distress decreased from 49.20 (7.82) in the pre-test to 46.86 (7.79) in the post-test and to 47.13 (7.97) in the post-test. ) increased in the follow-up phase. (P < 0/001). The results of analysis of variance were significant for the within-group factor (time) and significant between groups. Also, the interaction of group and time was significant. The pairwise comparison of the groups showed that there is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test and pre-test and follow-up stages in social isolation, that is, the scores decreased from the pre-test stage to the follow-up stage (p<0.001). Comparisons in the group under the educational intervention showed that there is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test and pre-test and follow-up stages in reducing psychological distress. It means that the scores have increased from the pre-test stage to the follow-up stage. While there was no difference between the post-test and follow-up stages in reducing psychological distress (p>0.001).
Conclusion: The aim of this study was the effectiveness of compassion-based therapy on social isolation and psychological distress in women with eating disorders. The findings of this research showed that compassion-based therapy reduced social isolation and psychological distress in women with eating disorders in the training group.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Clinical Psychiatry
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