Treatment aims and philosophy in the treatment of adolescent anorexia nervosa in Europe

Abstract

This study describes the range of service provision and explores differences in treatment approaches and therapeutic aims, in the 12 countries participating in the European Union collaborative COST B6 Adolescent Project into the treatment of adolescent anorexia nervosa (AN). Following a number of group meetings, two questionnaires were administered, completed and returned by e-mail. The first questionnaire examined features of the services provided, including details of the numbers of patients seen, inpatient admission criteria and aspects of patient management. The second questionnaire contained a list of 13 therapeutic aims, asking respondents to rank in order the six they considered most important in the first weeks of treatment. There was broad agreement between services concerning the need to offer a full spectrum of services in a range of settings. Nevertheless, there were significant differences in approaches, chiefly concerning the readiness to admit to hospital, the use of (individual or family) day units and the focus on weight restoration as opposed to therapeutic engagement.