A study that was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that teens who suffer from eating disorders may experience success via a family-based intervention technique known as the Maudsley Method.
The Maudsley method -- which was developed by doctors and therapists at the Maudsley Hospital in London about 20 years ago -- involves having parents sit down with their children five times a day to make sure they consume three meals and two snacks.
Parents who have tried it say the method is extremely difficult because anorexics notoriously do not want to eat, and most of them have rigid rules and rituals surrounding food.
- Dr. Daniel LeGrange and his colleagues at the University of Chicago and Stanford University studied 121 teenagers with anorexia.
- Half went into therapy with professional counselors, and the others use the Maudsley method.
- After one year, 43% using the parent-oriented method were within five percent of their healthy weight compared to 23% in the traditional therapy group.
- After two years, half in the Maudsley group were in full remission compared to 23% in the other group.
"What this study unequivocally demonstrates is if you have an adolescent with anorexia nervosa who is medically stable, family-based treatment should be the first line of treatment," said Dr. Le Grange, who is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience and Director of the Eating Disorders Clinic at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
The study appears in the .
Labels: teen, family, maudsley approach
Posted By: CRC Health