Related Experiment Videos
Dialectical behavior therapy for bulimia nervosa
D L Safer1, C F Telch, W S Agras
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305-5722, USA. dlsafer@stanford.edu
Objective:
The effects of dialectical behavior therapy adapted for the treatment of binge/purge behaviors were examined.
Method:
Thirty-one women (averaging at least one binge/purge episode per week) were randomly assigned to 20 weeks of dialectical behavior therapy or 20 weeks of a waiting-list comparison condition. The manual-based dialectical behavior therapy focused on training in emotion regulation skills.
Results:
An intent-to-treat analysis showed highly significant decreases in binge/purge behavior with dialectical behavior therapy compared to the waiting-list condition. No significant group differences were found on any of the secondary measures.
Conclusions:
The use of dialectical behavior therapy adapted for treatment of bulimia nervosa was associated with a promising decrease in binge/purge behaviors.