Development of emotion acceptance behavior therapy for anorexia nervosa: a case series
Open accessAbstract
This case series describes the development of a novel psychotherapeutic intervention for older adolescents and adults with anorexia nervosa (AN). Emotion acceptance behavior therapy (EABT) is based on a model that emphasizes the role of anorexic symptoms in facilitating avoidance of emotions. EABT combines standard behavioral interventions that are central to the clinical management of AN with psychotherapeutic techniques designed to increase emotion awareness, decrease emotion avoidance, and encourage resumption of valued activities and relationships outside the eating disorder. Five patients with AN aged 17-43 years were offered a 24-session manualized version of EABT. Four patients completed at least 90% of the therapy sessions, and three showed modest weight gains without return to intensive treatment. Improvements in depressive and anxiety symptoms, emotion avoidance, and quality of life also were observed. These results offer preliminary support for the potential utility of EABT in the treatment of older adolescents and adults with AN.
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Evidence-based practices for eating disorders that address both eating disorder symptoms and emotion regulation have demonstrated benefits for individuals with eating disorders.
“While EPBs for EDs that address both ED symptoms and emotion regulation have demonstrated benefits for individuals with EDs (14, 16, 17)”
From The Renfrew Unified Treatment for Eating Disorders and Comorbidity: Long-Term Effects of an Evidence-Based Practice Implementation in Residential Treatment (2021) · cites this paper as [16]
The EABT Treatment section describes an intervention addressing both anorexia symptoms and emotion avoidance. The Discussion reports modest weight gains and improvements in emotion avoidance among some patients, but calls the evidence preliminary, notes that one patient’s symptoms worsened, and says efficacy for anorexic symptoms remains undetermined. This supports possible benefits in this small anorexia nervosa case series, not the broader claim that evidence-based practices have demonstrated benefits for individuals with eating disorders generally. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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- Authors
- Wildes, J. E., & Marcus, M. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wildes, Jennifer E.
- Venue
- International Journal of Eating Disorders
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-08-18
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 421-427
- ISSN
- 0276-3478 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-108X
- PMC
- PMC4443437
- OpenAlex
- W2073044368
- Cited by
- 118
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 13.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- International Journal of Eating Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH082685, MH82685)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Keywords
- anorexia nervosa, emotion avoidance, emotional awareness, weight gain, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, quality of life, behavioral interventions
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Anorexia Nervosa, Awareness, Behavior Therapy, Emotions, Female, Humans, Quality of Life, Treatment Outcome, Self Efficacy
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