The resistance to treatment in patients with eating disorders in the early stage of the treatment

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the resistance to treatment in patients with Eating Disorders (ED) in early treatment and relationships between the resistance to treatment and cognitive factors related to treatment. Subjects and methods: Data about the resistance to treatment in ED patients were collected from semi-structured interviews for 6 ED patients and developed the questionnaire about the resistance to treatment in ED patients. Fifty-six ED out-patients completed the self-reported questionnaires of the resistance to treatment and cognitive factors related to treatment. Consent to study participation was obtained from all subjects. Results: The factor analysis confirmed the four postulated factors: "ineffectiveness", "evasive attitude", "lack of willingness" and "concerned with the public image". The internal consistencies for four scales were between α=.66〜.86. Spearman rank correlation revealed that the factor score of "lack of willingness" was negatively correlated with the scores of "importance of treatment", self-efficacy for treatment", "understanding of treatment" and "satisfaction for treatment". (r(s)=-.43〜-.24, ps<.10). Conclusion: We revealed the characteristics of the resistance to treatment in ED patients. These results suggested that intervention for diminishing the resistance to treatment in ED patients would be effective in leading to treatment in the early stage of the treatment.