Abstract
Objective
Parental involvement is emphasised in treatment guidelines for Eating Disorders (ED). The primary aim of this phase II study was to estimate the impact of a parent group intervention delivered immediately post‐diagnosis on weight gain and ED psychopathology in a cohort of young people referred to a community ED service. A secondary aim was to identify predictor variables for early treatment response in children whose parents attended the programme.
Method
Parents of 64 new cases of Anorexia Nervosa (AN; n = 50) and Atypical Anorexia (AAN, n = 14) attended a 6 week parent group intervention in addition to treatment as usual in which patients were weighed and reviewed, but had no other contemporaneous psychological intervention. Age and gender adjusted BMI (%median [m] BMI) and ED psychopathology at baseline, 6‐week and 6‐month follow‐up were analysed to assess weight gain and identify predictors of outcome.
Results
The intervention was associated with weight gain and improved ED psychopathology by the end of the programme; these gains were sustained at 6 months %mBMI at 6 weeks was the only predictor of outcome (%mBMI) at 6 months.
Conclusions
This preliminary work highlights the positive benefit of an ED focused parent group early intervention that could be further evaluated.