Guided self-help CBT treatment for bulimic disorders: effectiveness and clinically significant change

The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral guided self-help treatment program for bulimia nervosa and similar disorders. Participants were assessed at the beginning and end of treatment, and at 6 months follow-up, using the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), the Outcome-Questionnaire45 (OQ-45), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Forty-two participants from an eating disorders treatment service participated in this study. This study followed a one-group repeated measures naturalistic design with no control group. Results showed a significant reduction in EDE scores, OQ-45 and BDI. Clinically significant change occurred for the majority of participants. Cognitive-behavioral self-help treatment may be of value as an initial treatment for bulimia nervosa and similar disorders such as binge eating disorder.
This research was supported by a Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia / Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal (FCT/POCI/56433/PSI/2004) grant to the last author.
We would like to thank Dr. Daniel Sampaio PhD for allowing access to the treatment
center and to the patients with ED that participated in the study and Dr. Ross Crosby
PhD for the statistical support regarding the HLM analysis.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion