Evidence-Based Group Therapy for Eating Disorders

Objective: The goal was to identify evidence-based group psychotherapy for adults with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge-eating disorder (BED). Method: We reviewed randomized controlled trials of group psychotherapy for clinical samples of adults diagnosed with AN, BN, and BED published between January 1980 and July 2023. Studies that indicated evidence-based treatments were those that compared a bona fide group therapy to a no-treatment control condition and that had a minimum sample size of 30 participants per condition. Results: Four randomized controlled trials examining the efficacy of group psychotherapy for adults with BED met our inclusion criteria. Those studies supported cognitive behavioral group therapy and group psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy as evidence-based group treatments of BED. No studies on the efficacy of group psychotherapy for adults with AN or BN met our criteria. Few studies adequately reported sample characteristics related to diversity, and those that did sample predominantly White participants. Most group treatment studies had methodological issues, such as small sample sizes that increased the risk of bias and reduced replicability. Conclusions: High-quality evidence supports the efficacy of cognitive behavioral group therapy and group psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy for the treatment of BED, and treatment guidelines for BED should reflect these findings. Researchers should pay particular attention to equity, diversity, and inclusion when conducting and reporting future studies. Overall, there are few high-quality studies on the efficacy of group psychotherapy for eating disorders, particularly AN and BN.