Acceptability and feasibility of SUCCEAT, an intervention for parents of adolescents with anorexia nervosa.

OBJECTIVE: "Supporting Carers of Children and Adolescents with Eating Disorders in Austria" (SUCCEAT), a skills training for parents, delivered via workshops (WS) or online modules (ONL), has been proven to be effective in terms of parental distress, caregiver skills, and adolescents' outcome. This study examined the adherence to and the acceptability and feasibility of SUCCEAT. METHOD: One-hundred parents (86% mothers) of adolescents with anorexia nervosa participated in the 8-week training. Parents were assigned to the WS (n = 50) or ONL (n = 50) format using a quasi-randomised design. Adherence, acceptability, and feasibility were assessed using self-report questionnaires. RESULTS: Adherence to the sessions was high (66%-98%) for both groups. The usage of the material was comparable between the groups. However, in the WS group, participants actively approached the coaches (71.8% vs. 48.9% often/very often) or other parents (63% vs. 4.4% often/very often) more often. Perceived helpfulness was high in both groups, overall satisfaction and practicability were higher in the WS group. CONCLUSIONS: Good adherence, acceptability, and feasibility were confirmed for both formats of SUCCEAT, with minimal advantages of the WS regarding satisfaction and contact with other parents and coaches. Thus, both formats can be recommended for implementation in clinical routine.

Exploring neurocognitive features in adolescents and young adults with anorexia nervosa: Evidence from a longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate longitudinal changes in set-shifting and central coherence in a predominantly adolescent cohort with anorexia nervosa (AN) and to explore whether these factors predict long-term eating disorder outcomes. METHOD: Ninety-two female patients with AN (mean age: 16.2, range: 13-21 years) completed neurocognitive tests (Rey Complex Figure Test, Adapted Version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) before and after 12 months of psychotherapeutic treatment (n = 45 Maudsley AN Treatment, MANTRa; n = 47 standard psychotherapy; groups not randomised). Eating disorder severity was assessed at baseline, after 6, 12 and 18 months. RESULTS: Central coherence (indicated by an increase in the Rey Figure Style Index) and set-shifting (indicated by a reduction in the percentage of perseverative errors) significantly improved over the course of treatment, with similar outcomes across groups. Lower central coherence was associated with higher eating disorder severity. Individuals with lower baseline set-shifting ability tended to have worse eating disorder outcomes in the long-term. However, this trend did not reach statistical significance in a multilevel linear mixed model. CONCLUSIONS: Neurocognitive difficulties in adolescents and young adults with AN can improve after treatment. Interventions specifically addressing flexibility in thinking and behaviour may contribute to treatment success.

Psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for adolescents with type-1-diabetes: a qualitative interview study involving adolescents and parents.

This study aims to investigate the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents with type-1-diabetes (T1D). We conducted 18 semi-structured interviews including adolescents with T1D (n = 10, 50% female, 15-18 years) and their parents (n = 8, 88% mothers). The main topics addressed were experiences during confinement regarding everyday life, lifestyle behaviors, diabetes management and treatment. We applied thematic analysis to identify common patterns of meanings. Being aware of belonging to a potential COVID-19 risk group caused worries especially in parents which resulted in strict adherence to preventive measures. Information from trustworthy sources regarding the actual risk mitigated the concerns. Digital diabetes treatment was well accepted and experienced as highly usable. The pandemic situation either facilitated or hindered the transition from parental control to diabetes self-management. While some patients managed to improve healthy lifestyle behaviors as their everyday lives seemed more predictable, others had difficulties in adapting to changed daily routines resulting in increased sedentary behavior and snacking. The perceived level of stress was directly associated with blood glucose levels. In conclusion, the implementation of psychological interventions (both for adolescents with T1D and their parents) addressing mental health literacy and media literacy seems to be important to promote positive coping skills for dealing with the pandemic situation.

Psychological distress and caregiving experience during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic among parents of an offspring with anorexia nervosa.

OBJECTIVE: To compare different aspects of caregiving distress and experience in parents of patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Three cohorts of parents of AN patients (cohort 1-pre-pandemic: N = 78, cohort 2-first pandemic year: N = 51, cohort 3-second pandemic year: N = 119) were recruited from child and adolescent psychiatry wards and cross-sectionally assessed as part of the clinical routine. Quantitative measures of psychological distress, psychopathology, eating disorder (ED)-related burden, expressed emotion and caregiver skills were obtained at the beginning of the child's inpatient or outpatient treatment. RESULTS: Cohort 2 showed lower levels of anxiety and a tendency of lower emotional overinvolvement and higher caregiving skills compared to the pre-pandemic cohort. In contrast, the levels of general psychological distress, depression, ED-related burden and criticism observed in cohort 3 significantly exceeded pre-pandemic levels. The prevalence of clinically relevant depression was higher in cohort 3 (41.5%) compared to cohorts 1 (24.4%) and 2 (21.6%). DISCUSSION: The pandemic effects on parents seem to be time-specific. Lower distress in the early phase of the pandemic may be associated with improvements in parent-child-relationships reported in previous studies. However, the pandemic may has negative consequences in the long-term emphasising the need of ongoing parental support.

The Maudsley model of anorexia nervosa treatment for adolescents and emerging adults: A multi-centre cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was examining the efficacy of the Maudsley Model of Anorexia Nervosa Treatment for Adolescents and Young Adults (MANTRa) compared to individual psychotherapy that can be considered as standard in Austria (TAU-O). METHOD: In this cohort study, 92 patients between 13 and 21 years suffering from full-syndrome, atypical or weight-restored anorexia nervosa (AN) received either 24-34 individual MANTRa sessions (n = 45) or TAU-O (n = 47). Outcome variables were age- and sex-related BMI, eating disorder and comorbid psychopathology at 6-, 12- and 18-month post baseline as well as acceptability of treatment and therapeutic alliance. RESULTS: Both treatments resulted in significant improvements in age- and sex related BMI and reductions in eating disorder and comorbid psychopathology over time with significant differences between groups in favour of MANTRa. The percentage of participants with fully remitted AN was significantly higher in the MANTRa group compared to TAU-O at 18-month follow-up (MANTRa: 46% vs. TAU-O: 16%, p = 0.006). Satisfaction with both treatments was high. CONCLUSIONS: MANTRa is an effective treatment programme for adolescents and young adults with AN. Randomised controlled trials comparing MANTRa with existing treatments are necessary. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT03535714).

Fathers in the spotlight: parental burden and the effectiveness of a parental skills training for anorexia nervosa in mother-father dyads.

PURPOSE: Research on the engagement of fathers in the treatment of childhood psychiatric disorders is scarce. This study aims to investigate differences between mothers and fathers of adolescents with anorexia nervosa regarding parental burden and effectiveness of a parental skills training. METHODS: Ninety-one mother-father dyads caring for a child with anorexia nervosa participated in an 8-week parental skills training and completed a set of questionnaires assessing parental psychopathology, eating disorder related burden, caregiver skills and expressed emotion at baseline and post-intervention. RESULTS: Fathers showed lower levels of general psychological distress, depression, anxiety and eating disorder related burden as well as lower emotional overinvolvement compared to mothers. The skills training was effective in reducing parental psychopathology, eating disorder-related burden and emotional overinvolvement as well as in increasing caregiver skills with no differences between mothers and fathers. However, session adherence and the willingness to practice skills between the sessions were slightly lower in fathers. CONCLUSIONS: These findings show that fathers are a great resource for the child's eating disorder treatment as they may counterbalance maternal emotional overinvolvement and over-protection. Furthermore, this is the first study demonstrating that fathers can profit from a parental skills training for anorexia nervosa in a similar way as mothers. LEVEL III: Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case-control analytic studies.

A German version of the Caregiver Skills scale for caregivers of patients with anorexia nervosa.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate acceptance, reliability, convergent validity, factor structure and sensitivity to change of a German translation of the Caregiver Skills (CASK) scale measuring skills related to caring for patients with eating disorders. METHODS: Two hundred and thirty-three parents (76% female) of adolescent patients (mean age 15.1) with anorexia nervosa (AN) completed the 27 items of the CASK. We calculated item/scale characteristics, internal consistencies and bivariate correlations with other measures of caregiving burden. We evaluated goodness-of-fit of the 6-factor model using confirmatory factors analysis and explored the sensitivity to change following two skills-based trainings. RESULTS: The fit of the 6-factor model was acceptable (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation: 0.077, Standard Root Mean Square Residual: 0.080). Cronbach's alpha was excellent for the total (.94) and acceptable for all subscales (0.73-0.85). The total CASK score was 68.04 (max. 100) showing relatively high self-rated caregiver skills. Non-completion rates of most items were low (<3%) indicating high acceptance. Convergent validity was found with measures of psychological distress, depression, anxiety and expressed emotion. The total score significantly increased following an 8-week workshop/online skills training (d = 0.70) and a 2-day multi-family intervention (d = 0.47). DISCUSSION: The German CASK version is a useful instrument to assess caregiver skills in parents of patients with AN and to evaluate outcomes of skills-based trainings.

An investigation of the factor structure of a German version of the Eating Disorder Symptom Impact Scale (EDSIS) among parents of adolescents and young adults with anorexia nervosa.

The aim of this study was to explore the factor structure, scale characteristics and convergent validity of a German version of the Eating Disorder Symptom Impact Scale (EDSIS). A total of 335 parents of adolescents and young adults with anorexia nervosa in inpatient or outpatient treatment completed the 24-item German translation of the EDSIS and other measures of caregiving burden and psychological distress. We tested a 4 vs. 6-factor model of the EDSIS using confirmatory factor analyses. The 6-factor model treating items as ordinal variables showed the best fit to the data (CFI = 0.949, RMSEA = 0.064). Strong invariance of this model was shown between the sample of mothers and fathers. Internal consistencies of the EDSIS scales were in the acceptable-to-good range. Bottom effects were observed for the 'Binge-Purge-Impacts' subscale only. Mothers had significantly higher EDSIS scores compared to fathers. The EDSIS total score and most of the subscores showed substantial positive correlations with caregivers' psychological distress, level of depression, anxiety and expressed emotion as well as negative associations with the level of perceived caregiving skills. The German version of the EDSIS is a useful tool to assess caregiving burden in mothers and fathers of patients with anorexia nervosa.

White matter integrity is disrupted in adolescents with acute anorexia nervosa: A diffusion tensor imaging study.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a highly debilitating mental illness with multifactorial etiology. It oftentimes begins in adolescence, therefore understanding the pathophysiology in this period is important. Few studies investigated the possible impact of the acute state of illness on white matter (WM) tissue properties in the developing adolescent brain. The present study expands our understanding of the implications of AN and starvation on WM integrity. 67 acutely ill adolescent patients suffering from AN restricting type were compared with 32 healthy controls using diffusion tensor imaging assessing fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD). We found widespread alterations in the vast majority of the WM regions with significantly decreased FA and increased MD in the AN group. In this highly selective sample in the acute stage of AN, the alterations are likely to be the consequence of starvation. Still, we cannot rule out that some of the affected regions might play a key role in AN-specific psychopathology.

Impact of COVID-19 Confinement on Adolescent Patients with Anorexia Nervosa: A Qualitative Interview Study Involving Adolescents and Parents.

COVID-19-related restrictions may have a serious impact on patients with eating disorders. We conducted semistructured interviews with female adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) (n = 13, 13-18 years) currently receiving inpatient or outpatient treatment and their parents (n = 10). We asked for their experiences during COVID-19 confinement regarding everyday life, AN symptoms, and treatment. We used thematic analysis to interpret the data. The main themes identified from the patients' interviews involved restrictions of personal freedom (i.e., leading to tension between patients and family members, reduced motivation to work on recovery), interruption of the treatment routine (emerging risks through self-monitored weight, challenges/opportunities of teletherapy), changes in AN symptoms (more exposure to triggering situations), COVID-19-related fears, and compulsions but also potential opportunities (less stress, better family relationships). The parents discussed changes in daily routines as negative (challenges in maintaining day structures) and positive (more family time, "slowing down"). They expressed reservations about reduced outpatient monitoring and increased teletherapy and discussed challenges in keeping contact with the child and clinicians during inpatient treatment. Moreover, the parents discussed deteriorations and improvements in the patients' psychopathology. Clinical implications from these in-depth insights include the importance of strengthening communication between changing staff cohorts, patients, and parents; motivational work; and joint weight monitoring with the therapist.

Short-Term Outcome of Inpatient Treatment for Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa Using DSM-5 Remission Criteria.

This study evaluated the short-term outcome of a multimodal inpatient treatment concept for adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN). In this prospective observational study, a cohort of 126 female adolescents with AN (age range: 11-17, mean age: 14.83) was longitudinally followed from admission to discharge (average duration of stay: 77 days). We used gold-standard clinical interviews and self-report data, as well as DSM-5 remission criteria, to evaluate the treatment outcome. From admission to discharge, body-mass-index (BMI) significantly improved by 2.6 kg/m2. Data from clinical interviews and self-reports yielded similar improvements in restraint eating and eating concerns (large effects). Lower effects were observed for variables assessing weight/shape concerns and drive for thinness. At discharge, 23.2% of patients showed full remission of AN, 31.3% partial remission, and 45.5% no remission according to DSM-5 criteria. Differences in remission groups were found regarding AN severity, age at admission, and use of antidepressant medication. Living with both parents, longer duration of inpatient treatment and the use of antipsychotic medication were significantly associated with higher BMI change. The findings provide evidence for the short-term effectiveness of our inpatient treatment concept. We recommend using DSM-5 based remission criteria to evaluate the treatment outcome to improve the comparability of studies.

The Maudsley model of anorexia nervosa treatment for adolescents and young adults (MANTRa): a study protocol for a multi-center cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN) is often challenging due to medical complications as well as high relapse and mortality rates. Studies about effective treatment options for people with AN are particularly scarce in the adolescent population. This paper is a study protocol for a multi-center cohort study assessing the feasibility, acceptability and efficacy of a new, manualized treatment program, the "Maudsley Model of Anorexia Nervosa Treatment for Adolescents and Young Adults" (MANTRa) compared to psychotherapeutic treatment as usual (TAU). METHODS/DESIGN: One hundred patients between 13 and 21 years who meet the inclusion criteria will receive 24 to 34 individual weekly MANTRa therapy sessions or weekly TAU sessions. Primary outcome variables will be BMI and eating disorder psychopathology 12 months after baseline. Further changes in central coherence, cognitive flexibility, emotion recognition, comorbid psychopathology (e.g. depression, obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders, non-suicidal self-injury), personality factors and therapeutic alliance will be assessed. DISCUSSION: This multi-center study will examine the utility of the treatment program MANTRa for adolescents with AN and, therefore enhances the current knowledge about potential treatments for this patient group. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03535714 . Registered: 24/05/2018 (retrospectively registered, still recruiting).

Does a Skills Intervention for Parents Have a Positive Impact on Adolescents' Anorexia Nervosa Outcome? Answers from a Quasi-Randomised Feasibility Trial of SUCCEAT.

Skills trainings for caregivers of patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) have been proven to be effective in improving caregiver skills and reducing caregivers' psychopathology. The effects on patients, especially adolescents, are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a caregivers' skills training program (Supporting Carers of Children and Adolescents with Eating Disorders in Austria, SUCCEAT, workshop or online version) on adolescents with AN delivered as workshops (WS) or online (ONL). Outcomes are Body-Mass-Index (BMI) percentile, eating psychopathology (Eating Disorder Examination, EDE), attitudinal and behavioural dimensions of eating disorders (Eating Disorder Inventory-2), motivation to change (AN Stages of Change Questionnaire), emotional and behavioural problems (Youth Self-Report) and quality of life (KINDL). All outcome variables significantly improved across both SUCCEAT groups (WS and ONL) and were sustained at 12-month follow-up. The online and workshop delivery of SUCCEAT were equally effective. Most effect sizes were in the medium-to-high range. Full or partial remission was observed in 72% (WS) and 87% (ONL) of patients. Caregiver skills trainings, either delivered as workshops or online modules, are highly recommended to complement treatment as usual.

Reduction of High Expressed Emotion and Treatment Outcomes in Anorexia Nervosa-Caregivers' and Adolescents' Perspective.

High expressed emotion (EE) is common in caregivers of patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and associated with poorer outcome for patients. In this study, we examined the prevalence of high EE in caregivers of adolescents with AN and analyzed predictors for EE using multivariate linear regression models. We further analyzed whether EE is reduced by the "Supporting Carers of Children and Adolescents with Eating Disorders in Austria" (SUCCEAT) intervention using general linear mixed models and whether a reduction of EE predicts patients' outcomes. Caregivers were randomly allocated to the SUCCEAT workshop (N = 50) or online intervention (N = 50) and compared to a comparison group (N = 49). EE and patients' outcomes were assessed at the baseline, post-intervention, and at the 12-month follow-up. Up to 47% of caregivers showed high EE. Lower caregiver skills, higher AN symptom impact, higher levels of depression and motivation to change in caregivers were significant predictors for high EE. EE significantly decreased in the SUCCEAT groups and the comparison group according to the caregivers', but not the patients' perspective. The level of reduction could partially predict subjective improvement and improvement in clinically assessed AN symptoms and body mass index of patients. Implementing interventions for caregivers addressing EE in the treatment of adolescents with AN is strongly recommended.

Long-Term Efficacy of the Workshop Vs. Online SUCCEAT (Supporting Carers of Children and Adolescents with Eating Disorders) Intervention for Parents: A Quasi-Randomised Feasibility Trial.

Interventions for main carers of adult patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) can reduce the caregiving burden and increase caregiver skills. However, the effectiveness and feasibility for carers of adolescent patients, the optimal form of the intervention and long-term outcomes are largely unknown. We evaluated the efficacy and feasibility of the "Supporting Carers of Children and Adolescents with Eating Disorders in Austria" (SUCCEAT) workshop vs. online intervention. Main caregivers (parents) of adolescent patients with AN were randomly allocated to a workshop (n = 50) or online version (n = 50). Participants were compared to a non-randomised comparison group (n = 49) receiving multi-family or systemic family therapy. Primary (General Health Questionnaire) and secondary outcomes were obtained at baseline, three-month and 12-month follow-up. Adherence was high for workshop and online participants (6.2 and 6.7 sessions completed out of 8). Intention-to-treat analyses revealed significant pre-post reductions in the primary outcome for the workshop (d = 0.87 (95%conficence interval (CI): 0.48; 1.26)) and online (d = 0.65 (95%CI: 0.31; 0.98)) intervention that were sustained at the 12-month follow-up. There was no significant group difference (p = 0.473). Parental psychopathology and burden decreased and caregiver skills increased in all groups; the improvement of caregiver skills was significantly higher in SUCCEAT participants than in the comparison group. Online interventions for parents of adolescents with AN were equally effective as workshops. The improvements remained stable over time.