Adapting digital anxiety treatments to reduce anorexia nervosa relapse.

Exposure therapy is an efficacious, frontline treatment for anxiety disorders. Digital interventions for anxiety are effective and increase access to care. Eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa and atypical anorexia nervosa, and anxiety disorders have notable commonalities among symptoms and maintaining factors. Recent research suggests that exposure therapy is also an effective treatment for anorexia nervosa spectrum. The purpose of this study was to adapt digital anxiety treatment modules into digital eating disorder treatment modules, for specific use with anorexia nervosa. The Screening and Treatment for Anxiety and Depression (STAND) program includes digital treatment for anxiety disorders. Three anxiety treatment modules from Digital Therapy STAND were adapted to create four exposure-based modules encompassing food exposures, social exposures, imaginal exposures, and interoceptive exposures for eating disorders. This paper highlights the similarities among the digital treatment modules and describes the process and feasibility of adapting digital anxiety treatments to create digital interventions for eating disorders. Specifically, fears common among individuals with eating disorders are conceptually similar to those common among individuals with anxiety disorders, except that eating disorder fears tend to be centered around food, weight, and the body. The adaptability of digital anxiety treatments for use with eating disorder populations offers a new avenue of possible treatment to increase access to care and address high rates of eating disorder relapse. Future research should assess the acceptability and effectiveness of the Facing Eating Disorder Fears digital, exposure-based treatment for eating disorders and specifically for anorexia nervosa.