Family therapy in the treatment of child and adolescent eating disorders

Family therapy is recommended as the first-line treatment for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa in adolescents. There is also emerging evidence for family therapy as a treatment for avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder. The aim of this article is to provide an up-to-date overview of the family therapy approach to treating adolescent eating disorders. Family therapy emerged in the 1980s as an evidence-based approach to treating adolescent eating disorders. A core aspect of the treatment is an early emphasis on parents supporting their child to achieve behavioural change, whilst later helping the child to take responsibility for their eating. The treatment is supported by evidence from randomised controlled trials, but there have been relatively few trials comparing family therapy with individual treatments. To improve the evidence base for family therapy, we recommend greater involvement of people with lived experience of eating disorders in research; the development of "modular" treatment manuals; a focus on improving the validity and reliability of measures; and greater use of alternatives to randomised controlled trials, including experimental studies and use of real-world data.