Author C. Montebruno

This study explores the cognitive structures, understood as construct systems, of patients suffering from bulimia nervosa (BN). Previous studies investigated the construct systems of disordered eaters suggesting that they had a higher distance between their construction of the self and the “ideal self,” and also more rigidity. In addition to these aspects, this study explored the presence of implicative dilemmas (ID). In BN patients it was more common (71.9%) to find IDs than in controls (18.8%). They also showed higher polarization and higher self-ideal discrepancies (even more for those with a long history of BN). The measures provided by the Repertory Grid Technique can be useful for the assessment of self-construction and cognitive conflicts in BN patients and to appreciate their role in this disorder. It could also be helpful for clinicians to explore the patient’s constructs system, and especially to identify IDs that could be maintaining the symptoms or hindering change in order to focus on them to facilitate improvement