[Development of a self-report questionnaire for the measurement of stigmatizing attitudes of the psychiatric staff towards patients with borderline personality disorder]. / Entwicklung eines Selbstauskunftsfragebogens zur Erfassung stigmatisierender Einstellungen des psychiatrischen Personals gegenüber Patienten mit Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung.

OBJECTIVE: The development of a self-report questionnaire for quantitative measurement of stigmatizing attitudes of the psychiatric staff towards patients with borderline personality disorder. METHOD: Online survey with psychiatrists, psychologists and nursing staff (n=94) in the (semi-)stationary psychiatric sector with translated items of an attitude questionnaire, followed by a principal component analysis and correlations between principal components and social distance. RESULTS: Analyses revealed a 4-principal component structure (BPD-treatment difficulties, BPD-assessment of suicide risk, BPD-assumption of manipulative tendencies, BPD-negative emotions) with 63,60% explained variance and small to large correlations between principal components and social distance. CONCLUSION: Results initially indicate possible validity and reliability of the developed questionnaire. Further analyses with larger sample size and confirmatory factor analysis for continued development are advised.

Digital communication and virtual reality for extending the behavioural treatment of obesity - the patients' perspective: results of an online survey in Germany.

BACKGROUND: CBT has been found effective for the treatment of EDs and obesity. However not all patients achieve clinically significant weight loss and weight regain is common. In this context, technology-based interventions can be used to enhance traditional CBT but are not yet widespread. This survey therefore explores the status quo of pathways of communication between patients and therapists, the use of digital applications for therapy as well as attitudes towards VR from the perspective of patients with obesity in Germany. METHODS: This cross-sectional online survey was conducted in October 2020. Participants were recruited digitally through social media, obesity associations and self-help groups. The standardized questionnaire included items concerning current treatment, paths of communication with their therapists, and attitudes toward VR. The descriptive analyses were performed with Stata. RESULTS: The 152 participants were mostly female (90%), had a mean age of 46.5 years (SD = 9.2) and an average BMI of 43.0 kg/m² (SD = 8.4). Face-to-face communication with their therapist was considered of high importance in current treatment (M = 4.30; SD = 0.86) and messenger apps were the most frequently used digital application for communication. Participants were mostly neutral regarding the inclusion of VR methods in obesity treatment (M = 3.27; SD = 1.19). Only one participant had already used VR glasses as part of treatment. Participants considered VR suitable for exercises promoting body image change (M = 3.40; SD = 1.02). DISCUSSION: Technological approaches in obesity therapy are not widespread. Face-to-face communication remains the most important setting for treatment. Participants had low familiarity with VR but a neutral to positive attitude toward the technology. Further studies are needed to provide a clearer picture of potential treatment barriers or educational needs and to facilitate the transfer of developed VR systems into clinical practice.

CBT is the treatment of choice for a variety of psychological disorders, among them eating disorders and obesity. However not all patients benefit equally and weight-regain is frequent. Technology-based approaches like virtual reality can enhance traditional CBT, but they are not yet used very often in clinical practice. This study asked patients with obesity which digital methods of communication and treatment were part of their obesity therapy and whether they would welcome VR approaches in their therapy. 152 patients participated and reported a face-to-face communication with their therapist to be of high importance. Messenger apps (e.g. WhatsApp) were the most commonly used digital methods of communication. VR applications or wearables do not play a role in the respondents' therapy. Participants were mostly neutral toward VR technology but expressed positive expectations toward VR as part of body image therapy.

Attitude of Nutrition Experts Toward Psychotherapy and Virtual Reality as Part of Obesity Treatment-An Online Survey.

Background: The management of obesity requires lifestyle-based interventions covering nutrition, physical activity, and behavior. As part of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), body image therapy approaches can be used not only by psychotherapists. One tool to conduct behavioral therapy is virtual reality (VR). It is unknown, whether nutrition experts conduct behavioral therapy, and whether they would like to use VR technology as a tool to conduct body image therapy as part of obesity management. Objective: This survey aimed to collect data from nutrition experts treating people with obesity about the status quo regarding behavioral and body image therapy as part of obesity management, and regarding their attitude toward VR in obesity therapy. Methods: The survey was conducted online in autumn 2020. Participants were recruited digitally through expert and professional associations. The standardized questionnaire included items concerning sociodemographic, professional status, behavioral therapy, body image, and VR. The descriptive analysis was performed with Excel, the subgroup analyses with R. Results: Data from 158 nutrition experts was analyzed. Participants were mostly female (98/102, 96.1%) and had a mean age of 45.6 ± 11.3 years (n = 101). Most of the survey participants (93/124, 75.0%) stated to use behavioral treatment methods in case of weight reduction as the primary target. More than half of the participants stated to address body image (99/150, 66.0%). Almost all (111/112, 99.1%) nutrition experts have never used VR-glasses. The suitability and importance of VR technology as part of obesity therapy was estimated as neutral by around 50%. Overall, no statistically significant difference could be shown between age groups regarding attitudes toward VR in obesity treatment. Conclusion: The results of this non-representative survey indicate that nutrition experts do not use VR technology in nutrition counseling sessions to treat obesity. In addition, survey participants have a positive attitude to VR technology, whereas they are not familiar with this technology. In future, VR technology might support nutrition experts of every age using elements of body image therapy. Survey Registration: The German Register of Clinical Studies (Registration Number: DRKS00022853).