Treating Anorexia

When it comes to treating a serious eating disorder in teens, getting the family involved may be helpful.

Anorexia nervosa is a problem that’s particularly common in adolescent girls and young women. Symptoms of anorexia include intense worry about becoming overweight, and trying to keep weight very low by using extreme methods including eating very little and exercising excessively. The condition may lead to death in about 10 percent of cases.

A new study from the Archives of General Psychiatry followed 121 adolescents and teenagers with anorexia to compare the effects of family-based treatment versus individual therapy. Each type provided 24 hours of total treatment over a year. The researchers found that at the end of the treatment, a similar number of young people in both groups had full remission.

However, six months and a year later, significantly more patients had remained in full remission in the group that received family therapy. These findings – along with previous research – suggest that family-based therapy may be more effective, the authors write, but they also point out that both types led to considerable improvement.