Group psychoeducation for bulimia nervosa with and without additional psychotherapy process sessions

The present study examined whether additional sessions of group psychotherapy process (PP) would incrementally benefit bulimia nervosa (BN) subjects over and above that which is achieved through a course of brief group psychoeducation (PE).

Utilizing a quasi-experimental design, the first cohort of 40 BN subjects completed five-session PE-alone groups that were highly didactic and explicitly devoid of group process work. The second cohort of 41 BN subjects completed 12-session PE + PP groups that integrated PE with more conventional cognitive-behavioral group process interventions.

Both treatments were associated with comparable levels of change on measures of specific and nonspecific psychopathology. Furthermore, the two treatments did not differ in rates of premature termination, in rates of remission in eating symptoms, in rates of normalization of scores on psychometric measures, or in consumer evaluation of the treatments.

While subjects value the opportunity to engage in psychotherapy process with other group members, the addition of seven such sessions offers no enhanced therapeutic benefit over five sessions of group PE.