Behavioural Psychotherapy of Eating Disorders

Abstract

This paper reviews behavioural and cognitive-behavioural treatments of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and obesity. For anorexia and bulimia a review is attempted of controlled trials with a cell size $5, whereas for obesity the emphasis was on trials published over the last 5 years. In anorexia, operant conditioning procedures produce short-term weight gain, but may have no major advantages over other treatment methods. Strict operant conditioning regimes do not seem to be superior to more lenient ones. Controlled long-term outcome studies are lacking. In bulimia cognitive-behavioural treatments and exposure treatments have been superior to waiting-list control, but comparisons between different active treatments have produced inconsistent results. In obesity, newer studies have achieved larger weight losses through longer treatment duration and the use of more complex interventions.