Mid-Term Effectiveness of Behavioral and Psychodynamic Inpatient Treatments of Severe Obesity Based on a Randomized Study

<i>Background:</i> The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of psychodynamic and behavioral inpatient treatments of severely obese patients regarding weight and distress. <i>Methods:</i> In a longitudinal study obese patients (body mass index, BMI ≧35) were randomly assigned to behavioral or to psychodynamic inpatient treatment. Mostly female (n = 267; 85%) obese patients with psychiatric and somatic comorbidity (age 20–64 years, BMI 35–74) were examined with standardized self-report scales on distress (SCL-90R), interpersonal problems (Inventory of Interpersonal Problems), eating behavior (Fragebogen zum Essverhalten) and body image (Fragebogen z…