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Steven Spector, PhD
Children's Hospital of Michigan Detroit

JAMA. 1975;233(4):317.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

The efficacy of behavior modification in the treatment of anorexia nervosa has been recently questioned and attacked as a longterm treatment modality in this principally female-adolescent eating disorder.

Feinstein (228:1230, 1974) in a LETTER TO THE EDITOR pointed out the inherent dangers of using behavior modification with anorectic patients. His review of two behavioral studies^1,2 contained no follow-up studies after hospitalization, nor were studies of this nature even proposed. Hilde Bruch, long recognized as an authority in the treatment of eating disorders, reported in THE JOURNAL (230:1419, 1974) the results of behavior modification in nine patients. Each patient came to Dr. Bruch's attention because of a crisis situation such as suicidal gestures, sleep disturbances, self-induced vomiting, and eating binges—and all these were patients who had been treated by behavior modification. Moreover, although all patients gained weight with behavior therapy, this weight was lost soon after discharge . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Footnotes
Edited by John D. Archer, MD, Senior Editor.

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