Effectiveness of Interpersonal Therapy on Emotion Regulation and Depression in Women with Bulimia Nervosa

Binge eating disorder is considered the ingestion of an unusually large amount of food with the lack of control during the overeating episodes. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the efficacy of interpersonal group therapy on depression and emotion regulation in women with bulimia nervosa. Methods: This quasi-experimental study used a pretest-posttest design, a control group, and a two-month follow-up. A total of 30 research samples from the community of women with bulimia nervosa who were referred to the Iranian Overeating Association in Tehran between September and November 2019 were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The required findings were collected using the depression inventory and emotional regulation in three rounds: pre-and post-tests, as well as follow-up, and analyzed using variance analysis with repeated measures. Results: The results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed that interpersonal group therapy was effective in reducing depression and improving emotional regulation strategies in patients with bulimia nervosa. Bonferroni test showed that this effect was lasting over time. Conclusion: Considering the efficacy of interpersonal group therapy on depression and emotional regulation, using interpersonal group therapy is recommended for women with bulimia nervosa.