Optimizing treatment outcomes in adolescents with eating disorders: The potential role of cognitive behavioral therapy

Objective While family‐based treatment (FBT) is the leading psychological therapy for adolescents with eating disorders, it is not universally effective or suitable. This study considered the effectiveness of cognitive‐behavioral therapy for eating disorders (CBT‐ED) in adolescent cases where FBT was not fully effective or where it was not applicable to the individual case.

Method A transdiagnostic case series of 54 adolescents with eating disorders (52% with anorexia nervosa; 31% with atypical anorexia nervosa) were offered CBT‐ED following previous treatment using FBT or following FBT being judged inappropriate. Pre‐post outcomes were assessed using standardized measures of eating attitudes and clinical impairment, and weight change was measured for the patients with anorexia nervosa.

Results The rate of attrition was similar to that found in other CBT‐ED studies (38.9% of patients who started CBT‐ED; 59.3% of those offered CBT‐ED). The patients showed positive outcomes on all measures, regardless of whether they had previously been treated with FBT. Effect sizes were moderate to large. Severity and duration of the eating disorder were unrelated to outcomes.

Discussion CBT‐ED merits consideration as a second‐line approach for adolescents with eating disorders when FBT has not been effective or could not be applied. There is no evidence that previous failure to benefit from FBT impairs outcome from subsequent CBT‐ED, and severity and duration of the eating disorder did not influence outcome. Treatment matching for adolescents with eating disorders might consider the role of previous treatment outcomes and family availability in determining optimum treatment strategies for individuals.