A controlled trial of family interventions in eating disorders. Changes in psychopathology and social adjustment

Abstract

The efficacy of two interventions -systemic family therapy (SFT) and parents' support group + group therapy (PSG+GT)- to improve psychopathology and social adjustment, was investigated in outpatients with eating disorders (ED) for one year. Seventy one participants with ED (according to criteria from DSM-IV) were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups and assessed with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, SCL-90-R, BDI, Self Anxiety Scale and the Social Adjustment Scale at the beginning and at the end of treatment. Both treatments revealed significant improvement at posttreatment. SFT produced significantly greater improvement than did PSG+GT, especially in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN). The results provide support for the efficacy of this type of interventions to improve psychopathology and social adjustment in outpatients with eating disorders.