Study Backs Family Therapy for Anorexia

Family therapy may be best for the long-term recovery of teens with anorexia nervosa, a study suggests. The study included 121 people, mostly girls. Their ages ranged from 12 to 18. Each was randomly assigned to one of two groups. People in one group received individual therapy. The other group got family therapy. Treatment continued for a year. At the end, similar numbers from both groups were in “full remission.” They had a normal weight. They also had an average score on an assessment of eating disorder symptoms. But a year after treatment ended, differences were clear. About 49% of those who had family therapy were in full remission, compared with 23% of those who had individual therapy. The study appeared in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry. HealthDay News wrote about it October 4.