title: Understanding persistence in bulimia nervosa: a 5-year naturalistic study.
abstract: Bulimia nervosa shows a marked tendency to persist, suggesting that powerful maintaining mechanisms operate. Using data from a prospective, 5-year, study of the natural course of 102 people with bulimia nervosa, the authors sought to identify predictors of persistence and to test specific hypotheses derived from the cognitive-behavioral theory of the persistence of bulimia nervosa. The results of both sets of analyses were consistent with the theory, with the degree of overevaluation of shape and weight and a history of childhood obesity predicting a persistent course. There was also support for the central prediction of the cognitive-behavioral theory. These findings suggest that the mechanisms specified by the theory influence its longer term natural course.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, United Kingdom. credo@medicine.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: Christopher G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Fairburn
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stice
authors.forename: Zafra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Helen A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Doll
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Norman
authors.forename: Marianne E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: O'Connor
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index