Simpler therapy may successfully treat adolescents with anorexia nervosa

Family-based treatment (FBT) is an effective evidence-based therapy for adolescent anorexia nervosa (AN) and is the recommended approach to treatment at the present time. The effectiveness of other treatments such as individual psychotherapy (ego-oriented therapy) and generic family therapy (systemic family therapy) is based on less evidence and such treatments are not as effective as FBT.1 Whether treatment involving the whole family, or a simpler treatment involving parents only, differ in effectiveness is not known.This was a single-site study conducted at the Royal Children ' s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. A total of 107 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years with AN were randomly allocated to two treatments: FBT involving the whole family in treatment together with a family meal, or parent-focused treatment (PFT) involving only the parents in treatment
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news