JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Digital interventions for eating disorders have the potential to increase access to care and broaden the range of treatment options for adolescents. However, little is known about the characteristics of those who seek these interventions. Identifying such characteristics will help to ensure that these interventions meet the needs in the target population, highlight potential unrepresented groups, and support clinicians in assessing clinical suitability for individual patients.

Objective:

This study aimed to i) examine the characteristics of adolescents seeking digital treatment for eating disorders within routine clinical care and ii) explore whether the key components of the novel digital treatment align with the characteristics of the adolescents it is designed to support.

Methods:

This study utilised baseline data from an open feasibility trial of a novel digital treatment for eating disorders within routine clinical care. Participants were adolescents aged 15-18 years, with a diagnosis of atypical anorexia nervosa, atypical bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, or eating disorder, unspecified. Baseline assessment included: Demographic characteristics, eating disorders symptomatology, psychosocial impairment, emotional dysregulation, anxiety, depression, negative self-evaluation, and motivational factors.

Results:

A total of 25 adolescent participated in the study, only female. Mean age was 16 years. Half of the adolescents had previously received face-to-face treatment for an eating disorder. The sample was transdiagnostic with some variation in distribution. The adolescents reported severe eating disorder symptoms, marked psychosocial impairment, emotional difficulties, elevated negative self-evaluation and high levels of internal pre-treatment motivation.

Conclusions:

The findings from this study underscore the relevance of digital interventions to complement or extend traditional eating disorder care for adolescents. This study emphasises the importance of designing digital treatments that are sensitive to normative biases, address the multifaceted nature of eating disorders and are tailored to the needs and preferences of a transdiagnostic population. Present findings are important insofar as they may inform that the key treatment components align with the characteristics of adolescents seeking digital treatment for eating disorders within routine clinical care. Clinical Trial: Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT06306586. Approved: 05.03.2024. Available online: 12.03.2024.