title: Changes in body image during cognitive-behavioral treatment in women with bulimia nervosa.
abstract: The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine multidimensional aspects of body image of individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN) at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at follow-up, compared to a group of participants without BN; and (2) to investigate whether measures of body image predicted outcome at post-treatment and follow-up. The clinical sample consisted of 109 females with BN who were enrolled in a 12-week cognitive-behavioral group treatment program. Participants were assessed at baseline, at the completion of treatment, and at 1- and 6-month follow-up visits. The 82 females who comprised the non-bulimic sample were assessed at comparable time intervals. At baseline, the participants with BN reported greater body dissatisfaction and overestimated body size to a significantly greater degree than the comparison group, and reported a significantly smaller ideal size relative to perceived size. Results at the end of treatment indicated significant improvement in self-reported attitudinal disturbance and size overestimation, with continued reductions at follow-up. Logistic regression analyses did not demonstrate a predictive relationship between body image measures at baseline and outcome at post-treatment or follow-up, or between post-treatment and follow-up. Implications for treatment include specifying the source of body image-related distress and enhancing treatment efforts for perceptual and attitudinal aspects of body image.
authors: Eating Disorders Research Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, 606 24th Avenue South, Suite #602, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA.
authors: Carol B
authors: CB
authors: Peterson
authors: Suzann
authors: S
authors: Wimmer
authors: Diann M
authors: DM
authors: Ackard
authors: Ross
authors: R
authors: Crosby
authors: Lisa C
authors: LC
authors: Cavanagh
authors: Sara
authors: S
authors: Engbloom
authors: James E
authors: JE
authors: Mitchell