Evaluation of family treatment models for eating disorders.

Objective: Interest in the effectiveness of family interventions for eating disorders has increased over the past 5 years. This review considers the theoretical justification and current evidence base for the use of family treatments for eating disorders in children and adolescents.

Results: Family-based treatment is the best studied treatment. It has the strongest evidence base for effectiveness for anorexia nervosa in adolescents. Family-based treatment can be delivered in several formats and doses, and preliminary data suggest it can be disseminated by training and manuals. There is a more limited evidence base demonstrating the usefulness of family interventions for bulimia nervosa in adolescents.

Conclusions: The implications of the findings of this review are that family interventions are the current first-line treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa and promising for adolescent bulimia nervosa. Pilot studies suggest that family interventions can be disseminated in diverse clinical settings.