SynthesisEuropean eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association2025
Self-Guided Psychological Interventions for the Treatment and Prevention of Eating Disorders: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Synthesis in European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Strategic Priorities for Advancing Eating Disorder Risk Reduction: A Narrative Review.The International journal of eating disorders · 2026Review
- Understanding Engagement Experiences in an Adapted Digital Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Lower-Income Adults With Eating Disorders With Binge Eating and/or Purging: A Qualitative Analysis of Barriers and Facilitators.The International journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
- The (Future) Role of Self-Help Interventions in the Treatment of Eating Disorders: Commentary on Linardon et al. (2025).The International journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- The INTERconNEcT-EDs app-based self-help program for people with eating disorders: a usability and qualitative study.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSelf-guided interventions may broaden the dissemination of evidence-based prevention and treatment protocols for eating disorders. We conducted a meta-analysis comparing self-guided prevention and treatment approaches for eating disorders to (1) control groups and (2) professionally guided self-help programs.
methodsForty-six trials were included. Interventions ranged from web, to app, to CD-ROM to book-based programs. Random effects meta-analyses were conducted on numerous symptom and risk outcomes.
resultsOnly four trials recruited an unselected sample, with self-guided programs reducing shape/weight concerns over control groups (g = 0.18). Among high risk/symptomatic samples (k = 25), self-guided interventions reduced several behavioural and cognitive symptoms (gs = 0.31-0.50) over control groups, with effects being robust when adjusting for higher risk of bias and small sample trials. Among clinical samples (k = 17), evidence for the effectiveness of self-guided interventions over control groups on symptom measures was only found for binge-eating disorder, as too few studies sampled other diagnostic subtypes. Among 10 trials that compared guided to unguided self-help, we observed a significant effect in symptom reduction in favour of guided self-help (g = -0.26). Dropout did not differ between guided and unguided self-help (OR = 0.97).
conclusionSelf-guided interventions may be an effective, low intensity intervention format for high risk individuals or for binge-eating disorder presentations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.