Clinical Research Directory

Pilot of Reconnecting to Internal Sensations and Experiences in Undergraduates

Project RISE is a randomized control trial. The intervention consists of four modules that focus on multiple aspects of interoception including: body awareness, body sensations/movement, eating, health and self-care, emotional awareness, and understanding the self in relation to others. The comparator condition is called "Health Habits" and is matched for time and attention; participants complete modules related to healthy habits such as financial planning, hygiene, stretching, and healthy eating. Variables of interest include self-report measures of interoception, eating pathology, suicidality, physiological measures of interoception (electrocardiograph; ECG; pain tolerance measured via algometer), and an implicit association test (IAT) with death and life stimuli (meant to measure implicit associations with suicidality). The population will be college students, with current or past suicidality or low interoception.

Enhancing Social Connections Among Rural Community Members With Disordered Eating

This study is about testing a short program that uses social support to help people with disordered eating. The goal is to see if this program can help people build better habits and feel better about eating while reducing harmful symptoms. In the long run, this project wants to make it easier for people with eating problems to get help and recover, especially for those in rural areas or other groups who don't often get the care they need. Participants will complete self-report measures online, and complete a digital single-session program.

INTERconNEcT-Eds: a Guided Self-help Mobile App to Improve Outcome in Eating Disorders

Eating disorders (EDs) are psychiatric illnesses characterised by pathological eating behaviours, ranging from protracted undereating to recurrent loss of control over eating. Based on the transdiagnostic approach, EDs are triggered and maintained by interpersonal distress and difficulties to manage negative emotions. Thus, interpersonal skills have been implicated as important targets for change in the treatment. In this project, we will adopt digital technologies to improve treatment adherence and outcome of individuals with EDs, by testing the effectiveness of an online self-help program delivered through a mobile app. Specifically, this project aims to establish if an online personalized self-help approach is feasible and effective in ameliorating eating disorder symptoms and distress. We planned to conduct two randomised controlled trials to test the effectiveness of online guided self-help (GSH) in two different settings: (1) the community, and (2) the outpatient setting. This is to establish at which stage of treatment this approach is most helpful. Across studies, we will recruit 242 individuals aged ≥18 years with ED symptoms and/or a proper diagnosis of EDs (DSM-5). During eight weeks period, GSH will be available to participants both on a website and a new-developed smartphone app and consists of written materials and brief video-clips, a weekly chat based forum group and an online interpersonal group session. Guidance in forum groups will be facilitated by non-specialist help-care providers (i.e., peer mentors); whereas experienced mental health providers will lead the online group sessions. Participant's interpersonal distress will be assessed at intake to personalize guidance in the group, by addressing dysfunctional interpersonal characteristics which can be associated with ED symptoms. Participants will also complete a weekly working alliance measure to examine whether the quality of relationship with mentor predicts clients' level of clinical change. Regarding the outpatient setting, the first aim is to assess if GSH intervention is effective to improve the following primary outcome for patients with ED diagnosis: 1) overall psychological distress. In the community setting, the study aims to examine if GSH is effective to improve the following primary outcomes for individuals with self-reported ED symptoms: 1) overall psychological distress; 2) first contact with clinical services to manage their dysfunctional eating behaviors.

Mindfulness Based Eating Awareness Training for Bariatric Surgery Patients

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of Mindfulness Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT) for patients who have had bariatric surgery on their weight and mental and physical health compared to patients who do not do this group. All participants will complete questionnaires evaluating eating and mental health before and after the group and 6 and 12 months later. They will have blood pressure readings at these times and complete a questionnaire about their digestive health. Our hypothesis is that participants will maintain their weight loss after bariatric surgery and have improvements in the other outcomes.