| Disordered eating is a distressing problem that is common in college students, and often occurs as an attempt to regulate negative emotions, respond to stress, and avoid self-awareness. Mindfulness based treatments teach individuals how to increase awareness of these types of experiences rather than engaging in the mindless, habitual reactions that usually result from them. As a result, the individual may consciously choose an alternative response. A variety of mindfulness based treatments have shown success treating individuals with eating disorders and binge eating behavior. However, there is a lack of research targeting other disordered eating behaviors.;The current study assessed the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for decreasing disordered eating behaviors and increasing distress tolerance. Participants who completed this study were 10 college students scoring 20 or above on the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). A staggered, multiple baseline across subject, single subject design was used with each participant acting as his or her own control. Three groups of participants received the independent variable of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Disordered Eating, where both formal and informal meditation practices were taught in eight sessions over a four-week period. There were also two week and four week follow up periods. Self report measures included the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire - Revised (TFEQ-R18), the Profile of Mood States - Brief Form (POMS-B), the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS), the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS), and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ). Participants' performance on the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) was used as a behavioral measure of stress tolerance. Additionally, participants kept daily food diaries and their eating behavior was observed via a one-way mirror using a food choice task.;Results were analyzed through visual inspection and statistically, using ipsative z analysis based on autocorrelations and critical values. Of the five hypotheses generated, evidence mainly supported two; participants did evidence gains in mindfulness and decreases in experiential avoidance, as demonstrated by improved scores on the KIMS and AAQ, respectively. The hypotheses that participants would demonstrate increased distress tolerance was partially supported, while there was only weak support for decreased emotional distress or decreased disordered eating. |
