Cross-cultural examination of Australian and Japanese female university students' beliefs about the treatment of Bulimia Nervosa

This study examined beliefs about the treatment of Bulimia Nervosa (BN) held by Australian and Japanese women, as well as the extent to which belief models of eating disorders could apply across different cultures. Four hundred and forty‐five Japanese (Mage = 20.49, SD = 3.11) and 388 Australian (Mage = 25.57, SD = 4.99) women rated the effectiveness of therapeutic approaches used for BN. Separate principal components analyses were used to reduce these components to a smaller set of underlying dimensions for the two groups. Among the Australian women, the four‐component structure of perceived effective treatments (Inpatient/Contractual; Cognitive Behavioural, Family‐Interpersonal, Psychopharmacological) reported by Kiernan, Dryer and Tyson (2005) was supported. Among the Japanese women, however, a three‐component structure (Personal Management Interventions, Medical Interventions, Nutritional Counselling) was obtained. The different belief structures found between the two groups have implications for cross‐cultural delivery of preventative education programs and interventions for BN.