Effect of adapted interpersonal psychotherapy versus health education on mood and eating in the laboratory among adolescent girls with loss of control eating

Objective Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is aimed at improving negative affect that is purported to contribute to the development and maintenance of loss-of-control (LOC) eating. Although youth who report LOC over eating tend to consume more snack-foods than those without LOC, it is unknown if IPT impacts objective energy intake. Methods To test if IPT improves mood and eating in the laboratory, we examined a sample of 88 girls with LOC eating who were randomized to either IPT (n = 46) or a standard-of-care health education (HE) group program. At baseline, and 6-month (follow-up 1) and 1-year (follow-up 2) following the initiation of the groups, girls consumed lunch from a multi-item meal with an instruction designed to model a LOC episode. Girls also reported mood state immediately before each meal. Results Girls in IPT experienced no significant changes in pre-meal state depressive affect, while girls in HE experienced a non-significant improvement by follow-up 1 and then returned to baseline by follow-up 2 (p <.04). We found no significant group difference for changes in total intake relative to girls' daily energy needs (p's ≥.25). However, IPT reduced, while HE increased, the percentage of daily energy needs consumed from snack-foods by follow-up 2 (p =.04). Within-groups, HE increased their snack food intake from follow-up 1 to follow-up 2 (p =.01). Conclusions In adolescent girls with LOC, IPT did not change total intake at the test meal and was associated with reduced snack-food intake. Data are required to determine if IPT effectively prevents excess weight gain in the longer-term.