Augmentative Approaches in Family-Based Treatment for Adolescents with Restrictive Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE

To systematically review the literature reporting outcomes of augmentative family-based treatment (FBT) interventions for adolescents with restrictive eating disorders (EDs).

METHOD

Articles were identified through a systematic search of five electronic databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Database).

RESULTS

Thirty articles were included, reporting on FBT augmentations featuring adjunctive treatment components, modified treatment structure and/or content with adherence to FBT principles, and adaptations allowing FBT delivery in different settings. All reported significant improvements in weight and/or ED symptoms at end-of-treatment, although few compared augmentative and standard FBT interventions and good quality follow-up data was generally lacking.

CONCLUSIONS

There is early evidence for the effectiveness of augmentative FBT-based approaches in facilitating weight and/or ED symptom improvements for adolescents with restrictive EDs. There remains a lack of robust evidence demonstrating superior effects of such approaches over standard FBT, and further controlled studies are required to expand on the current evidence. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.