Improving remission outcome in adolescents suffering from anorexia nervosa : multi-family therapy versus single-family based treatment

Abstract

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a serious and potentially fatal eating disorder which, most often, emerges during adolescence, and is prevalent among females. The psychological, physical, and behavioural symptoms have a rippling effect, and strike at the core of the family unit. Oftentimes, parents express difficulty in managing this illness; however, the family should not be blamed, but should instead be considered a useful resource to help in the recovery. Therefore, the treatment modalities which are being investigated in this work include multifamily therapy (MFT-AN) and single-family therapy (SFT-AN). Both therapeutic interventions are adaptations derived from the Maudsley Model, and both therapies view parental involvement as a prerequisite for a successful outcome. The research question reads: Is Multi-Family Therapy as effective as Single-Family Based therapy in the remission of adolescents suffering from Anorexia Nervosa? The PICO elements guiding this study include: Adolescents suffering from anorexia nervosa as the population, multi-family therapy as the intervention, single family therapy as the comparison therapy, and improved remission as the outcome. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to guide the literature search, along with multiple restricting filters, such as, age, year of publication, and diagnosis, based on DSMIV or DSM-V, thus generating 7 relevant articles addressing the PICO question. The Oxford Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP, 2014) was used during the critical appraisal in order to guide the evaluation. Results indicate that both therapies have parallel favourable effects on different aspects of the remission outcomes of adolescents suffering from AN. Evidence on this subject is still emerging; however, it is evident that more studies comparing both therapies are needed, having a longer follow-up period and a larger sample size.