Academic Affiliation
Modum Bad Research Institute/ University of Oslo, Department of Psychology.
Research project
The doctoral project is part of a randomized controlled study investigating how patients with and without childhood traumas respond to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and compassion-focused therapy (CFT), respectively. The study is based on findings indicating that patients with childhood trauma have a poorer prognosis than other patients upon admission. The goal of the study is to contribute to increased knowledge about the important processes in the therapy process so that we can provide better treatment for patients with and without childhood traumas.
In addition to this, I collaborate with Prof. Tim Brewerton at the University of South Carolina on a large clinical dataset from the USA, where we examine central and perpetuating symptoms for patients with and without trauma through network analysis. I also collaborate with KariAnne Vrabel, Asle Hoffart, Bruce Wampold, Ken Goss, and Glen Waller on a study on the outcomes of the randomized controlled study described above. In this study, we investigate improvement in patients with and without childhood trauma who are randomized to either CBT or CFT, both at discharge and one-year follow-up.
Research interests
Direct:
- Eating disorders and childhood traumas: How does the illness manifest similarly and differently for people with and without childhood traumas? What can we do to increase the percentage of patients who remain in treatment and respond to treatment?
- Self-compassion: What role does self-compassion play in the illness and recovery process of patients with eating disorders?
- Various mechanisms of change for eating disorders: What mechanisms of change lead to improvements in eating disorders?
- Methods for studying mechanisms of change: How can we best study mechanisms of change, and what can different statistical methods tell us?
- Ideographic networks: Can the development of personal networks for patients before admission lead to better treatment?
- Temporal networks: Can networks that tell us something about the direction of symptom change over time lead to better treatment?
- Maintaining mechanisms for patients with childhood trauma/PTSD: What symptoms and comorbid conditions affect the maintenance of eating disorder and trauma issues?
Indirect:
- Binge-eating disorder: How can we ensure (evidence-based) treatment for binge-eating disorder in specialized healthcare?
- Social media: How do social media affect body perception/body ideals in youth, young adults, and parents/grandparents? How can we work on attention toward negative influences from their own “feed”?
- Sports and eating disorders: How to prevent eating disorders in weight-sensitive sports and create safe athletic bodies over time? Including specific measures such as more weight classes, awareness of trail cutting, and research on women and performance after puberty.
Publications
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10503307.2022.2149363
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eat.24097
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000579672400007X
Media:
On sports and eating disorder
https://www.dagbladet.no/sport/balanserer-pa-grensen-til-startnekt/74581974
Binge eating disorder:
https://radio.nrk.no/serie/ekko/MDFP02008623
Social media:
https://psykologisk.no/2021/11/syke-handlinger-blir-normalisert-man-blir-vant-til-a-se-det/
Precision medicine:
https://www.dagensmedisin.no/dagens-modell-for-psykiske-lidelser-er-uegnet/510925
https://psykologtidsskriftet.no/debatt/2023/03/en-dorapner-presisjonspsykologi
More publications:
List of all publications from Modum Bad
National Collaborators
- Research group at the University of Oslo: PROUD
International Collaborators
- Erik Giltay MD PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Health Campus The Hague, Leiden University, the Netherlands.
- Rita Slof Opt ‘Land, University of Leiden, Rivierduinen Eating Disorders Ursula, Leiden, the Netherlands.
- Tim Brewerton MD PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC USA, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Miami, FL USA.
Project team
Doctoral Project Group:
- KariAnne Vrabel (Modum Bad, University of Oslo) (main supervisor)
- Asle Hoffart (Modum Bad/University of Oslo) (co-supervisor)
- Sverre Urnes Johnson (University of Oslo/Modum Bad) (co-supervisor)
Project Team at Modum Bad
Eating disorders:
Hanna Punsvik Eielsen, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist
KariAnne Vrabel, Ph.D.
Leder av Forskningsinstituttet / Førsteamanuensis II Universitetet i Oslo
Research leader, Specialist in clinical psychology, Associate professor