Social adjustment over 10 years following diagnosis with bulimia nervosa.

Abstract

The authors sought to describe social adjustment among women diagnosed with bulimia nervosa more than a decade earlier. A cohort of women who were diagnosed with bulimia nervosa between 1981 and 1987 were located and invited to participate in follow-up assessments. Although the current sample demonstrated considerable improvement in disordered eating behaviors and social adjustment, measures of social adjustment suggested continued impairment in interpersonal relationships and only a modest association with eating disorder outcome. Continued difficulties in social adjustment may reflect an underlying vulnerability from which disordered eating developed. Treatments for bulimia nervosa may benefit from including interpersonal skills training.