BRIEF STRATEGIC THERAPY EFFECTIVENESS FOR THE TREATMENT OF BULIMIA AND BINGE EATING

Autore:

Jackson, J. B., Garcia Ramos, D., Pietrabissa, G., Castelnuovo, G., & Gibson, P.

Anno:

2025

Editore:

Society for Psychotherapy Research Annual Conference, Krakow, Poland. [Paper presentation]

Collana:

Empirical research supports the effectiveness of brief strategic therapy (BST) in treating bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED) symptoms in Italy. Additional research is needed to determine whether results are replicable in other countries. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of BST for BN and BED through one-year post-treatment. A two-group pretest-posttest longitudinal study was conducted. Participants were through a state-funded community psychotherapy clinic in Ireland. Data were collected from 57 clients. The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (Fairburn & Beglin, 1994) and the Clinical Impairment Assessment questionnaire (Bohn & Fairburn, 2008) were completed at pretreatment, posttreatment, 6 months posttreatment, and 12 months posttreatment. All the following the standardized mean difference point estimate effects (d) were statistically significant at the p < .001 level. Negative values for d indicate decreased symptomology, suggesting improvement. Values for d greater than 2.0 are considered huge and greater than 4.0 are considered nearly perfect. The difference between pretreatment assessment and 12-month posttreatment assessment for BN were as follows: restraint = -3.24, eating concerns = -4.34, shape concerns = -3.50, weight concerns = -3.78, and psychosocial impairment = -3.84.  The difference between pretreatment assessment and 12-month posttreatment assessment for BED were as follows: restraint = -3.37, eating concerns = -4.63, shape concerns = -4.13, weight concerns = -5.00, and psychosocial impairment = -4.83.  Findings from this study add to a growing body of evidence that BST is effective in reducing BN and BED symptoms and psychosocial impairment.