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Mental Health & Chemical Dependency Services

UNC & WPIC Planning Study of On-Line Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Bulimia

The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill and the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania are collaborating on a research study to evaluate the effectiveness of on-line cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for the treatment of bulimia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by binge eating and purging. The on-line CBT will be delivered through a Web site and augmented with therapist-moderated, weekly on-line chat sessions. The evaluation will compare the on-line delivery method to face-to-face group CBT therapy. The study was announced on September 15, 2008.

The research team will be led by Cynthia M. Bulik, Ph.D., as principal investigator. Dr. Bulik is the William and Jeanne Jordan Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders and director of the UNC Eating Disorders Program. Marsha D. Marcus, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and psychology and service chief of the Center for Overcoming Problem Eating, will be principal investigator at the Pittsburgh site. In addition to testing the effectiveness of on-line CBT delivery compared to traditional delivery, the researchers seek to determine if the on-line delivery can reduce the dropout rate among study participants.

The researchers will recruit 180 people diagnosed with bulimia nervosa to participate, 90 will be treated at each site. Half the group will be randomly selected to receive CBT with the face-to-face group therapy sessions for 20 weeks. The other half will receive Web-based CBT with weekly on-line group therapy chat sessions. Follow-up assessments with each participant will be conducted three months, six months, and 12 months after the end of treatment.

The web site will deliver the same content as traditional CBT, but will employ animation, video, and sound to engage the participants. The chat sessions will be hosted on a secure server. Each participant will meet with the moderator in person before the chat sessions begin. The on-line CBT intervention has been under development for two years. It was developed by Hans Kordy, Ph.D., director of the Center for Psychotherapy Research at the University of Heidleberg in Germany. Dr. Kordy will serve as a consultant for the study. Scott Crow, M.D., from the University of Minnesota Eating Disorders Research Program will also serve as a consultant.