Group IPT is a viable alternative to group CBT for the treatment of overweight patients with BED. Although lacking a nonspecific control condition limits conclusions about treatment specificity, both treatments showed initial and long-term efficacy for the core and related symptoms of BED.

An investigation of current American society's depiction of the ideal female body was performed. Body measurements of Playboy magazine centerfolds and MissAmerica contestants for 1979-1988 indicated body weight 13-19% below expected weight for women in that age group. Miss America contestants showed a significant decrease in expected weight between 1979 and 7 988. Comparisons were made with an earlier study which had demonstrated that body measurements of both groups had decreased during the period 1959-1978 and exercise articles in six women's magazines were tabulated for 1959-1988. A significant increase in both diet articles and exercise articles occurred during this period. These findings suggest that the overvaluation of thinness continues and thinness is now sought through both dieting and exercise. & English, 1978). One way to trace trends in ideal beauty is to examine various depictions of beauty in the media, ranging from art or portraits in the pre-camera age to commercial advertisements and photographs in the present (Lakoff & Scherr, 1984). Historically, people, especially women, have tried to change their bodies to conform to the specific era's image of beauty (EhrenreichThree studies have demonstrated the current emphasis on thinness in the media. A study of English fashion models over the years 1967-1987 demonstrated that the desired body shape for models was becoming more tubular, with bust and hips decreasing while height and waist increased (Morns,

The finding that negative mood is actually heightened subsequent to a binge suggests the need to further investigate what is reinforcing about a binge, including possible escape from self-awareness. Strengths of EMA technology are discussed, as well as its broad utility in BED assessment and treatment.

Over the past 15 years, eating disorder hospital treatment has metamorphozed from long-term treatment of a disorder to stabilization of acute episodes. For some patients, this change has been deleterious and not cost effective.

Results provide evidence that both interventions effectively reduce risk factors for eating pathology.