title: A comparison of short- and long-term family therapy for adolescent anorexia nervosa.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Research suggests that family treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa may be effective. This study was designed to determine the optimal length of such family therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-six adolescents (12-18 years of age) diagnosed with anorexia nervosa were allocated at random to either a short-term (10 sessions over 6 months) or long-term treatment (20 sessions over 12 months) and evaluated at the end of 1 year using the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) between 1999 and 2002.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although adequately powered to detect differences between treatment groups, an intent-to-treat analysis found no significant differences between the short-term and long-term treatment groups. Although a nonsignificant finding does not prove the null hypothesis, in no instance does the confidence interval on the effect size on the difference between the groups approach a moderate .5 level. However, post hoc analyses suggest that subjects with severe eating-related obsessive-compulsive features or who come from nonintact families respond better to long-term treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A short-term course of family therapy appears to be as effective as a long-term course for adolescents with short-duration anorexia nervosa. However, there is a suggestion that those with more severe eating-related obsessive-compulsive thinking and nonintact families benefit from longer treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. jimlock@stanford.edu
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lock
authors.forename: W Stewart
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Agras
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bryson
authors.forename: Helena C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kraemer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020954:Single-Parent Family; D013997:Time Factors