Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40229798›Full record

Trial reportBMC psychiatry2025

Efficacy of an internet-based, therapist-guided cognitive behavioral therapy intervention for adolescents and young adults with body dysmorphic disorder: a randomized controlled trial.

Michaela Schmidt, Katrin Schoenenberg, Julia E Engelkamp, Thomas Staufenbiel, Alexandra Martin, David D Ebert, Andrea S Hartmann

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Michaela SchmidtInstitute of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany.
Katrin SchoenenbergInstitute of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany.
Julia E EngelkampDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy of Childhood and Adolescence, Konstanz University, Universitätsstraße 10, Postbox 905, 78464, Konstanz, Germany.
Thomas StaufenbielInstitute of Psychology, Department of Research Methods, Diagnostics and Evaluation, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany.
Alexandra MartinDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany.
David D EbertDepartment of Sport and Health Sciences, Psychology and Digital Mental Health Care, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Andrea S HartmannDepartment of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy of Childhood and Adolescence, Konstanz University, Universitätsstraße 10, Postbox 905, 78464, Konstanz, Germany. andrea.hartmann@uni-konstanz.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBody dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is particularly prevalent yet highly understudied and undertreated in adolescence. This study evaluates the efficacy of an internet-based, therapist-guided cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for adolescents and young adults with BDD compared to supportive online therapy as an active control condition.

methodsIn a single-blind, randomized controlled trial, N = 45 adolescents (aged 15-21 years) of all genders from German-speaking countries were assigned to 12 sessions of internet-based CBT (iCBT) or 12 weeks of supportive online therapy. The primary outcome was change in expert-rated BDD symptom severity from pre- to post-intervention (Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder, BDD-YBOCS). Secondary outcomes included the remission and responder rate, changes in delusionality of appearance beliefs (BABS), self-rated BDD symptom severity (FKS), BDD cognitions (FKDK), quality of life (KINDL-R), and depressive symptoms (PHQ-9) from pre to post and to a 4-week follow-up.

resultsiCBT was more efficient than supportive online therapy on the BDD-YBOCS (p =.002), with a large between-group effect size at post-intervention (Hedges' g (SE) = 0.93 (0.42)), and on all secondary measures (p <.05), except for depressive symptoms (p =.068). All secondary outcome measures also showed significant improvements from pre to post iCBT, with moderate to large effect sizes, and gains were stable until the 4-week follow-up period. iCBT participants showed higher remission (61.5%) and responder rates (66.7%), compared to controls (0% and 26.7%), but only the difference in remission reached significance.

conclusionThe results indicate the efficacy of internet-based CBT in comparison to an active control condition, thus contributing to the limited intervention research in adolescent BDD and adding a much-needed treatment option.

trial registrationThe trial was pre-registered on 2020/06/08 at the German Clinical Trials Register, DRKS00022055.

Indexed as

Body Dysmorphic DisordersCognitive Behavioral TherapyInternet-Based InterventionAdolescentFemaleHumansInternetMaleQuality of LifeSingle-Blind MethodTreatment OutcomeYoung AdultAdolescentsBody dysmorphic disorderCognitive behavioral therapyOnline therapyRandomized controlled trial

Identifiers

PMID40229798
PMCPMC11995464

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.