The effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on bulimia symptoms, depression and body image in bulimia nervosa patients

Bulimia nervosa is a particular type of feeding and eating disorderswhich affects the person’s relationship with food and their body. This study was examined the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on symptoms of bulimia, depression and body image in bulimia nervosapatients.
The research design was a semi-experimental one with pretest-posttest and control group format.The sample included all patients with bulimia nervosa who referred to Farabi Hospital of Kermanshah city in 2016,whowere assessed based on psychiatrists definitive diagnosis, Eating Habits Questionnaire, Binge Eating Scale, Body Image Scale and Beck depression short inventory Questionnaires; Those with higher scores were selected via available sampling method and the study subjects were randomly divided into experimental and control groups.The experimental group was exposed to 8 sessions of two hours ACT. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of covariance.
The results showed significant difference between experimental and control groups in abatement bulimia nervosa intensity and eating habits.Significant difference were found between groups in body image and depression as well (P According to the findings of the research, acceptance and commitment therapy reduced symptoms of bulimia nervosa, depression and improved body image. Using this treatment method is recommended for patients with bulimia nervosa.