Cognitive-behavioral group psychotherapy of bulimia nervosa: Importance of logistical variables

• Published in: The International journal of eating disorders Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 277 - 287
• Main Authors: Mitchell, James E., Pyle, Richard L., Eckert, Elke D., Zollman, Mary, Crosby, Ross, Zimmerman, Robert, Pomeroy, Claire, Seim, Harold
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.11.1993; Wiley
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Behavior therapy. Cognitive therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Bulimia - psychology; Bulimia - therapy; Cognitive Therapy - methods; Female; Humans; Medical sciences; Personality Inventory; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychotherapy, Brief - methods; Psychotherapy, Group - methods; Treatment Outcome; Treatments; Human; Bulimia; Cognitive therapy; Group treatment; Evolution; Application method; Behavior therapy; Woman; Eating disorder; Abstinence; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0276-3478; 1098-108X
• DOI: 10.1002/1098-108X(199311)14:3<277::AID-EAT2260140306>3.0.CO;2-8

Although much of the psychotherapy for psychiatric disorders is conducted on a weekly basis, several researchers in the field of bulimia nervosa have utilized a more intensive approach as a means to strengthen treatment effects. A second issue concerns the amount of emphasis that should be placed on encouraging the interruption of bulimic symptoms early in treatment. In the current study we systematically studied these two issues. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four forms of cognitive‐behavioral group psychotherapy, the four cells differing on the variables of intensity and emphasis on abstinence. The results indicate that a high intensity approach, an early abstinence approach, or a combination of these two approaches are all significantly more effective in inducing remission in patients with bulimia nervosa compared with a weekly psychotherapy that uses the same manual‐based cognitive‐behavioral therapy approach. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.