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Longitudinal and personalized networks of eating disorder cognitions and behaviors: Targets for precision intervention a proof of concept study
Author(s) -
Levinson Cheri A.,
Vanzhula Irina,
Brosof Leigh C.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.22952
Subject(s) - proof of concept , intervention (counseling) , psychology , cognition , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , computer science , psychiatry , operating system
Despite the high mortality and significant societal and personal costs associated with eating disorders (EDs) there are few evidence‐based treatments. Part of the difficulty developing and implementing evidence‐based treatments in EDs is due to the extremely high heterogeneity (e.g., variability in treatment outcome, symptom presentation etc) present. Methods To begin to identify specific symptom heterogeneity within persons, the current study used novel within and between group and intra‐individual network analyses to create longitudinal and within‐person networks of ED cognitions and behaviors ( N = 66 individuals diagnosed with an ED). This article provides a proof of concept study for how to use between and within‐person network analyses both for the EDs and other forms of psychopathology. Results We found that cognitions focused on desiring thinness played a likely maintaining role in ED pathology, across network type and across time. Furthermore, we showed that three individuals with the same diagnosis (anorexia nervosa) differed in which symptoms maintained the disorder. We use these participants to exemplify how to use intra‐individual network analysis to personalize treatment focused on the primary maintaining symptoms. Finally, we found that amount of time (e.g., 4 hr vs. simultaneously) impacts how symptoms maintain each other. Conclusions These findings have implications for the development of novel personalized evidence‐based treatments for EDs, as well as implications for how the field understands how psychopathology maintains itself. These data represent a first‐step towards using intra‐individual network analyses in the ED field, as well as for hypotheses generation in future research.