Ready or not? Stages of change as predictors of brief group therapy outcome in bulimia nervosa

Abstract

Although group therapy is often recommended for the treatment of bulimia nervosa, relatively little is known about predictors of short-term outcome. This pilot study examined whether a standardized measure of readiness for change might be related to changes in binge frequency. Sixteen bulimic patients participated in short-term cognitive behavioral group therapy for twelve weeks. Each patient completed the Change Assessment Scale prior to treatment, along with a battery of symptom measures which were readministered at the conclusion of therapy. Bulimic patients with positive outcome in binge frequency were at a higher stage of readiness for change at pretreatment than were patients with negative outcome. Results indicated that there may be methods of determining who would be most likely to benefit from cognitive behavioral group therapy, and tentatively suggest that interventions may be more successful when readiness for change is taken into consideration.