Browsing by Author "Kaasinen, Jasmiina"

OBJECTIVE Eating disorders are serious and often long-lasting conditions with significantly elevated mortality risk. Treating eating disorders is challenging, and the interventions commonly used do not benefit all patients. The aim of this literature review was to examine the effects of different mindfulness-based interventions on the treatment and prevention of eating disorders. METHODS The literature was searched in PubMed and Google Scholar databases using combinations of the terms mindfulness, ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), MBCT (Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy) and eating disorder. Three meta-analyses and six randomized controlled trials examining the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on eating pathology were selected for the review. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Results concerning the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on eating disorders were promising. Several mindfulness-based interventions appear to be efficacious in the treatment of both subclinical eating disorder symptoms and diagnosable eating disorders. There are some limitations in this review and in the literature used. The meta-analyses included many uncontrolled studies and waitlist and treatment as usual control groups were often used in RCTs. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of the studies was high. More RCTs are needed, but based on this review, mindfulness-based interventions can be considered as potential psychosocial treatments for eating disorders and disordered eating behavior.