Mobile Self-Help Interventions as Augmentation Therapy for Patients with Anorexia Nervosa.

Background:It has been suggested that patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) who are resistant to first-line treatment would benefit from second-level interventions targeting specific features, an adaptive form of intervention. Guided self-help programs administered via mobile technology have the dual focus of instigating behavior change and managing anxiety associated with eating disorders in the moment and in users' naturalistic environments.Introduction:We evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary augmentative effects of mobile-based, guided self-help interventions (Recovery vodcasts) after initial unsuccessful first-line treatments for patients with AN.Materials and Methods:Patients with AN who were unsuccessful in their treatments were recruited to access Recovery vodcasts as augmentation treatment for 3 weeks in Korea. Acceptability and feasibility of the intervention were evaluated, and qualitative feedback was collected. Preliminary treatment effects of adding the Recovery vodcasts were assessed, including eating disorder pathology, anxiety and depression symptoms, and body mass index.Results:The Recovery vodcasts were acceptable for patients with AN. The patients' psychopathologies of eating disorders improved with augmentation of the vodcasts in their first-line treatments. In addition, there was a tendency toward improvement of affective symptoms. The participants' feedback suggested that the intervention could be improved.Conclusions:The study demonstrated that the Recovery vodcasts were well accepted by Korean patients with AN. Moreover, augmentation of the Recovery vodcasts could facilitate improvements in psychopathology of eating disorders, anxiety, and mood symptoms for patients with AN.