Introduction: Eating disorders are one of the most common mental/psycho-physical disorders that cause many problems in physical health, mental functioning and quality of life. Despite the fact that binge eating disorder is considered the most common eating disorder, it has not been studied much. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy with acceptance and commitment therapy on psychological coherence in binge eating patients.
Methods: The present study was a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test-post-test and follow-up with a control group. The statistical population included obese and overweight women aged 18 to 45 suffering from overeating in Karaj, who had regularly visited the Overeaters Anonymous Association in Karaj in 2022-2023. From among, using the convenient sampling method, 60 individuals were randomly selected and matched in terms of the scores of the overeating questionnaire and the doctor's diagnosis. They were equally assigned to two groups (20 people in the dialectical behavior therapy group and 20 people in the acceptance and commitment therapy group) and the control group (20 people). After the pre-test, the subjects in the experimental group received the dialectical behavior therapy protocol using the book "Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Binge Eating and Psychotic Anorexia: A Practical Guide for Clinical Experts" written by Debra Safer (2019) during 12 two-hour sessions. They also received the treatment plan protocol of the acceptance and commitment approach based on Hayes, Stroshall, and Wilson (2009), Twohig (2012), and Hayes et al. (2013) during 12 two-hour group sessions. Then the post-test stage and three months later follow-up were conducted. The instrument was Felsenberg's psychological coherence questionnaire (2006). The data obtained from this research were analyzed using SPSS-27 software.
Results: The results showed that there is no significant difference between the effectiveness of two groups of acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behavior therapy in increasing the level of psychological coherence. The results showed that both groups were effective and showed stable results.
Conclusion: Considering the findings, it can be concluded that the treatment based on acceptance and commitment and dialectical behavior therapy can increase the level of psychological coherence of patients with binge eating. Therefore, it is recommended that therapists use these approaches as an effective treatment to increase the psychological coherence of patients with binge eating.