The Effect of Cognitive-behavioral Therapy on Communication Skills and Eating Disorders among Adolescents with Eating Disorders

Abstract

Background: One of the main indications for cognitive behavioral treatment is eating disorders (CBT). This study examine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on communication skills and eating disorders among high school adolescents.Methods: The present study employed a quasi-experimental design composed of a pre-test and post-test design in experimental and control groups. A total of 40 students were selected and randomly assigned to experimental (n=20) and control (n=20) groups through a multistage cluster sampling method. Cognitivebehavioral therapy was performed in nine 60-minute sessions for the experimental group, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Queendom’s Communication Skills Test-Revised Inventory (2004) and Garner’s Eating Disorders Questionnaire (Garner, 1979) were used to collect data. All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS 24.0 software for Windows (SPSS Inc.), and P<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.Results: The Mean±SD of communication skills in the Case group in pre-test and post-test were as follows:75.15±6.67, 81.75±6.04. The Mean±SD of Eating Disorders in the Case group in pre-test and post-test were as follows:36.5±1.71, 36.95±3.44 The results obtained from the analysis of covariance showed that cognitive-behavioral therapy had a significant effect on communication skills and eating disorders (P=0.01). Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, it can be concluded that cognitive-behavioral therapy can be adopted as a suitable method of improving communication skills and the treatment of eating disorders in adolescent students

Keywords

• cognitive behavioral therapy
• feeding and eating disorders
• health communication