An interventional study of Self-compassionate letter-writing intervention in Eating Disorders, Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa, sponsored by University of Waterloo. Enrolling by invitation at 1 site in Canada. Open to participants aged 17 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-01-28.
Sponsored by University of Waterloo · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) seeks to lower shame and help people develop compassion for personal distress and shortcomings. There is increasing evidence to support the benefits of incorporating CFT-based interventions into the treatment of eating disorders (EDs). Building on the investigators' prior research, this study will examine the effects of a two-week CFT-based self-compassion letter-writing intervention on patients with eating disorders. Participants will be recruited from the wait-list of patients scheduled to begin treatment at the outpatient St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton Eating Disorders Program, and will be randomly assigned to the two-week letter-writing intervention or to a control group. Results will inform the integration of new empirically-derived interventions into ED treatments to improve the currently dismal rates of ED recovery.
The study consists of two phases. In phase one, participants will be randomly assigned to a two-week daily letter-writing intervention condition or a two-week control condition; phase one will occur two to four weeks prior to the start date of group ED treatment. Participants will complete a brief set of online questionnaires pre-, mid-, and post- two-week condition (i.e. baseline, after one week, and after two weeks).
Following these two weeks of intervention/control condition, all participants will complete a 25-week group treatment program as scheduled by the Eating Disorders Program. For phase two of the study, participants will be asked to complete questionnaires after 5 weeks, after 11 weeks, and post-group treatment. Data that is routinely collected as part of patients' clinical care pre- and post-treatment (i.e. on the first day and last week of group treatment) will also be collected.
645 studies on the registry are indexed under Feeding and Eating Disorders; 153 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 160 is above the median of 71 across 452 interventional studies indexed under Feeding and Eating Disorders.
Browse Feeding and Eating Disorders studies →University of Waterloo is the lead sponsor of 90 studies on the registry; 7 are open to participants now.
Of its 12 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 9 (75%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: None
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
The American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental health diagnoses. DSM-5 (2013, revised as DSM-5-TR in 2022) replaced DSM-IV, and some studies still name the older edition. “Meets DSM criteria for …” means diagnosed by that edition’s diagnostic criteria, usually by a clinician in an interview.
DSM diagnostic criteria
The American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental health diagnoses. DSM-5 (2013, revised as DSM-5-TR in 2022) replaced DSM-IV, and some studies still name the older edition. “Meets DSM criteria for …” means diagnosed by that edition’s diagnostic criteria, usually by a clinician in an interview.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
An online self-compassionate letter-writing task once per day (10-20 minutes each) for 2 weeks
Other: Self-compassionate letter-writing intervention
Participants in this condition will be asked to engage in an online self-compassionate letter-writing task once per day (10-20 minutes each) for 2 weeks.
Weight- and Body-Related Shame and Guilt Scale (WEB-SG)
Self-report questionnaire with 12 questions on a 5-point Likert scale (scored 0-4). Total scores range from 0-48, with higher decrease in score indicative of a better outcome (i.e. higher decrease in levels of shame and guilt).
Time frame: Change from baseline to post-2 weeks of intervention/control condition
Self-compassion Scale (short form; SCS-SF)
Self-report questionnaire with 12 questions on a 5-point Likert scale (scored 1-5). Total scores range from 12-60, with higher increase in score indicative of a better outcome (i.e. higher increase in levels of self-compassion).
Time frame: Change from baseline to post-2 weeks of intervention/control condition
Readiness to Change Eating Behaviours
Self-report questionnaire with 3 questions on a 10-point Likert scale (scored 1-10). Total scores range from 3-30, with higher increase in score indicative of a better outcome (i.e. higher increase in readiness to change disordered eating behaviours).
Time frame: Change from baseline to post-2 weeks of intervention/control condition
Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q)
Self-report questionnaire with 28 questions, collecting two types of data. The EDE-Q collects frequency data of eating disorder behaviours. The EDE-Q also has four subscales assessing the severity of four aspects of ED psychopathology. These subscales are scored using 7-point Likert scales (scored 0-6). Higher decreases in scores are indicative of a better outcome (i.e. higher decreases in eating disorder symptomatology).
Time frame: Change from day 1 to week 25 of group eating disorder treatment
Clinical Impairment Assessment (CIA)
Self-report questionnaire with 16 questions on a 4-point Likert scale (scored 0-3). Total scores range from 0-48, with higher decrease in score indicative of a better outcome (i.e. higher decrease in clinical impairment).
Time frame: Change from day 1 to week 25 of group eating disorder treatment
Plan to share: No
Started Sep 2020 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2026, 75 months after the start.
Of 269 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Feeding and Eating Disorders, half reached primary completion within 28 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 14 and three quarters within 49. This study's planned 75 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 274 studies reached it within 28 months; a quarter within 14 and three quarters within 49.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
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