Adapted Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Food Addiction

Summary

Food addiction is the concept that individuals can be "addicted" to foods, particularly highly processed foods. This concept has attracted growing research interest given rising obesity rates and the engineering of food products. Although food addiction is not a recognized mental disorder, individuals do identify as being addicted to foods and self-help organizations have existed since 1960 to purportedly treat it (i.e., through abstinence). However, little research has been conducted on how abstinence approaches work. Such methods may even be harmful given the risk of disordered eating. Currently, there are no empirically supported treatments for food addiction. However, evidence-based treatments do exist for addictions and eating disorders, such as motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural therapy, which may prove beneficial for food addiction, given neural similarities between addictions and binge eating.

The current study proposes a randomized controlled trial using a four-session adapted motivational interviewing (AMI) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) intervention for food addiction. This intervention combines the personalized assessment feedback and person-centred counseling of AMI with CBT skills for eating disorders, such as self-monitoring of food intake. The aim is to motivate participants to enact behavioural change, such as reduced and moderate consumption of processed foods. Outcome measures will assess food addiction and binge eating symptoms, self-reported consumption of processed foods, readiness for change, eating self-efficacy, and other constructs such as emotional eating. The intervention condition will be compared to a waitlist control group. Both groups will be assessed at pre- and postintervention periods, as well as over a 3-month follow-up period to assess maintenance effects. Based on a power analysis and previous effect sizes following AMI interventions for binge eating, a total sample size of n = 58 is needed. A total of 131 individuals will be recruited to account for previous exclusion and withdrawal rates. Participation is estimated to take place from March 2021 to March 2022. All intervention sessions will be conducted virtually over secure videoconferencing technology or telephone, expanding access to all adult community members across Ontario, Canada. Twenty randomly selected session tapes will be reviewed for MI adherence.

Conditions

• Food Addiction
• Binge Eating

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Adapted Motivational Interviewing (AMI) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

The intervention combines AMI techniques as described by Miller and Rollnick (2013) in the third edition of their Motivational Interviewing book, as well as CBT techniques from the Tele-CBT protocol for bariatric surgery patients by Cassin et al. (2013).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Jackman Foundation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• BMS Canada Risk Services Ltd.

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Canadian Psychological Association

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Council of Professional Associations of Psychology

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Toronto Metropolitan University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Stephanie E Cassin, PhD · Toronto Metropolitan University

• Vincent A Santiago, MA · Toronto Metropolitan University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-03-07

Primary Completion

2023-01-21

Completion

2023-01-21

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations