Qualitative Evaluation of Therapeutic Alliance in Adolescent Psychiatry (EVAADO)

Centre Hospitalier Victor Dupouy

Status

Completed

Conditions

Anorexia Nervosa

School Phobia

Depression

Study type

Observational

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT03288649

20140600001072

Details and patient eligibility

About

Context: Psychiatric disorders (anorexia nervosa, depression, anxiety based school refusal) are a major public health concern in adolescence. Their treatment is a challenge for the families, the health care system and society. The treatment is complex and non-standardized. In clinical practice, the relational dimension between the stakeholders is recognized by all. Nevertheless no study has ever crossed their perspectives about therapeutic alliance in adolescent psychiatry.

Objective: to explore, within a qualitative approach, how a therapeutic alliance is established in three different clinical situations according to the adolescents, their parents and their physicians by crossing their perspectives.

Methods: This is a national (France) multi-center qualitative study based on 180 semi-structured interviews. Participants (purposively selected until data saturation) came from three different sub-samples: (i) adolescents with anorexia nervosa (N =20) plus their parents (N=20) and their physicians (N=20), (ii) adolescents with depressions (N=20) plus their parents (N=20) and their physicians (N=20), and (iii) adolescents with anxiety-based school refusal (N=20) plus their parents (N=20) and their physicians (N=20). Data are collected through open ended semi structured interviews and independently analyzed with NVivo V.11 software by three researchers according to the principles of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

Enrollment

129 patients

Sex

All

Ages

12 to 18 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

adolescents, boys and girls, aged 12 to 18 years, speaking fluent French, with (i) anorexia nervosa according to DSM 5 criteria (ii) depressive disorders (dysthymia, depressive episode) according to DSM 5 criteria (iii) anxiety-based school refusal according to four criteria:
1. refusal to attend school (to operationalize this first criterion, adolescents were included if they had not attended school at all for at least one month before starting treatment); (2) presence of a DSM-5 anxiety disorder (except obsessive-compulsive or post-traumatic stress disorders) with emotional upset at the prospect of attending school; (3) absence of a DSM-5 conduct disorder; and (4) parental knowledge of the adolescent's whereabouts during the period of non-attendance.
  
  that led to treatment that had begun at least six months earlier and clinically determined to be well enough to participate in a research interview.
receiving treatment for at least 6 months
one parent at least agrees to participate