Therapeutic factors affecting the cognitive behavioral treatment of bulimia nervosa via telemedicine versus face-to-face delivery

Objective: Recently, Mitchell et al. (Behav Res Ther, 46, 581-592, 2008) conducted a randomized controlled trial of an empirically supported treatment for bulimia nervosa (BN) delivered face-to-face (FTF-CBT) or via telemedicine (TV-CBT). Results suggested that the TV-CBT and FTF-CBT were generally equivalent in effectiveness. The objective of the current study was to examine ratings of therapeutic alliance factors in TV-CBT and FTF-CBT. Method: Data obtained from 116 adults who met criteria for BN or eating disorder-not otherwise specified with binge eating or purging weekly and six doctoral-level psychologists who delivered the therapy were used in the analyses. Results: Therapists generally endorsed greater differences between the treatment delivery methods than patients. Patients tended to make significantly higher ratings of therapeutic factors than therapists. Discussion: TV-CBT is an acceptable method for the delivery of BN treatment compared to FTF-CBT, and TV-CBT is more easily accepted as a treatment delivery method by patients than therapists.