Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40420180›Full record

ArticleJournal of eating disorders2025

Family-based treatment with metacognitive therapy for adolescents with anorexia nervosa: findings from a phase II trial.

Beate Østgård, Gunn Julie D Nordahl, Arve Strandheim, Hans M Nordahl

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of eating disorders, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Beate ØstgårdDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, St. Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.
Gunn Julie D NordahlDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, St. Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.
Arve StrandheimChild and Adolescent Clinic, Levanger Hospital, Nord-Trøndelag Health Trust, Levanger, Norway.
Hans M NordahlDepartment of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway. hans.nordahl@ntnu.no.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe incidence of anorexia nervosa (AN) has increased over the past decade, particularly among school-aged children. Family-based therapy (FBT), which focuses on parental management and control, is the recommended and standard treatment for adolescents with AN. While FBT promotes weight gain and improved parent‒child interactions, it does not directly address the adolescents' cognitive change, which could make them vulnerable to relapse. Metacognitive therapy is scarcely studied in AN, and this trial tested its feasibility and long-term effects for adolescents with AN.

methodsThis phase II trial included 14 adolescents with AN in an A‒B design. Medical tests and diagnostic assessments were conducted before and after treatment. Assessments were conducted before treatment, by end of treatment and at 12 months after end of treatment. We integrated family-based treatment and metacognitive therapy for patient intervention and parental guidance.

resultsAt posttreatment, 13 of the 14 patients no longer met the diagnostic criteria for AN. There were significant increases in percentage expected body weight and reductions in emotional and cognitive symptoms. One patient continued to have eating disorder symptoms at posttreatment and withdrew before follow-up. No significant changes were observed in areas of family conflict or parent‒child communication. The treatment was well tolerated and deemed meaningful by both parents and patients. No adverse events or rehospitalization occurred during the 12 month follow-up period. Data collection was challenging, especially with respect to patients' disclosure of family interactions and symptoms.

conclusionsThe trial revealed positive effects posttreatment at the 12 month follow-up for 13 of 14 participants with AN. The treatment was well tolerated with no adverse effects. Despite the small sample size and lack of control, the results suggest that larger-scale trials of this intervention are warranted.

trial registrationThe study has been approved as a clinical and quality audit of the delivered clinical service registered by the institutional research board at Levanger Hospital HF (IRB-13672).

Indexed as

AdolescentsAnorexia nervosaFamily-based treatmentMetacognitive therapyPhase II

Identifiers

PMID40420180
PMCPMC12107747

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.