Abstract

ALEXANDRA LOPEZ, Claudia; MUNOZ, Ángela  and  PATRICIA BALLESTEROS, Blanca. Changing socio-verbal context in women at risk of developing alimentary problems: A relational frame approach. Rev. Latinoam. Psicol. [online]. 2005, vol.37, n.2, pp. 359-378. ISSN 0120-0534.

The general aim of this study was to analyze the effects of changing social-verbal context in three female adolescents at risk of developing anorexia nervosa and/or bulimia. A single-case design with 3 participants was applied, with measurements pre, during and follow-up (immediately after, after 15 days, and after a month). Self-records, behavioral interview and the Questionnaire of Food-Intake Behavior (ECA) were used as instruments; these results aided to define the case formulation, and the intervention objectives. Case analysis and intervention were designed based on relational frame theory (RFT). The intervention consisted of five sessions, two of them in group considering the communalities related to the influence of mass media and the need for nutritional education. Analogies, metaphors and stories were used to facilitate objective attainment. Results showed that the effect of changing the social-verbal context generated concrete actions leading to prevent food-intake problems, through changes in the actual rules functions and in stimulus relations, especially in two participants.

Keywords : Anorexia Nervosa; Bulimia Nervosa; Rule-governed Behavior; Food-intake Disorders; Relational Frame Theory.