EXPOSURE WITH RESPONSE PREVENTION TREATMENT OF ANOREXIA-NERVOSA BULIMIC SUBTYPE AND BULIMIA-NERVOSA

Binge exposure with response-prevention of bingeing (ERP-B) was evalua ted in 20 female Ss within an inpatient eating disorders unit over 9 s essions as an adjunct to standard milieu therapy. Subjects met DSM-III -R criteria for either bulimia nervosa (BN) (n = 13) or the bulimic su btype of anorexia nervosa (AN-B) (n = 7). The average age of the Ss in each group was 26.5 (+/-8.8) and 24.1 (+/-6.0) yr, respectively. Resu lts indicate significant within-session and pre-post treatment effects in self-report measures 'urge to binge', 'lack of control', 'feelings of guilt' and 'tension'. Further analysis revealed that the AN-B subg roup had significantly greater reduction in 'depression' and 'urge to vomit' compared to the BN group. This study provides preliminary evide nce that ERP-B deserves further investigation with long-term follow-up in both BN and AN-B patients and may be particularly advantageous in the AN-B subpopulation.