Early intervention in child and adolescent eating disorders: The role of a parenting group

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.

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.

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.

This preliminary work highlights the positive benefit of an ED focused parent group early intervention that could be further evaluated.