Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa in Children and Adolescents: An Integrated Family Based and Metacognitive Approach (FBT-MCT)

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Status: Active, not recruiting

Conditions: Anorexia Nervosa

Treatments: Behavioral: Family based therapy- Metacognitive therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06139770

255677

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this study is to evaluate the treatment effects of an integrated treatment called Family-based and Metacognitive therapy for patients with Anorexia Nervosa. In addition, we will evaluate if an active follow-up of the patients will reduce the number of relapses, which is common during the 1 year after discharge. Fifty patients aged 12-18 years old and their parents will be invited to participate in this study and all will receive the same treatment but be randomly allocated to different follow-up conditions. The active follow-up includes 3 sessions of Metacognitive therapy and the passive follow-up includes ordinary follow-up, with no booster sessions. The patients will be assessed at baseline, pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at 6 and 12 months follow-up.

Full description

The study is an evaluation of a new approach to treating Anorexia Nervosa (F.50.0 and F 50.1) called Family-based and Metacognitive therapy. The treatment integrates both family-based work approach, where the parents learn to be in control of the meal situation and communicate better with their child. The metacognitive treatment approach, is targeting the child to work with its problems with emotional regulation and self-esteem issues, but also their attitudes to body and weight. Our aim is to both address what the overall effect of the treatment will be, but also to test if an active follow-up after discharge will lead to reduced relapse rates in the 12 months after treatment. We will apply the same approach to all included patients (A-B design), but the patients and their parents will be allocated to one of two different conditions for follow-up. The active follow-up involves receiving 3 sessions of metacognitive therapy, whereas the other group gets ordinary follow-up, with no sessions of MCT. All patients are assessed at baseline, pre-treatment, post-treatment, and by 6 and 12 months follow-up. The purpose of the design is to evaluate if the rate of relapse during the first year after discharge can be reduced

Enrollment: 48 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 12 to 18 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Primary diagnosis of F 50.0 and F 50.1

Exclusion criteria

• Psychotic symptoms
• Severe somatic illness
• Mental retardation or developmental disorder
• Bipolar disorder
• Extreme self-mutilation or acute suicidal risks
• Does not speak or understand Norwegian

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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48 participants in 2 patient groups

Active follow-up

Active Comparator group

Description:

The patients will recieve 3 sessions of MCT

Treatment:

Behavioral: Family based therapy- Metacognitive therapy

Passive follow-up

Active Comparator group

Description:

The group receives no sessions during follow-up

Treatment:

Behavioral: Family based therapy- Metacognitive therapy