title: Are single-parent families different from two-parent families in the treatment of adolescent bulimia nervosa using family-based treatment?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether family-based treatment (FBT) for adolescent bulimia nervosa (BN), which emphasizes family involvement in helping to reduce binge eating and purging behaviors, is differentially efficacious in single-parent families versus two-parent families.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-one adolescents (97.6% female; 16.0 +/- 1.7 years old) with either BN (n = 18) or subthreshold BN (n = 23) were randomized to FBT as part of a larger randomized controlled trial studying treatments for adolescent BN.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two-parent (n = 27; 65.9%) and single-parent (n = 14; 34.2%) families were compared on demographic variables, presence of comorbid psychiatric illnesses, and symptoms of BN at baseline, post, and 6-month follow-up. ANOVA and chi-square analyses revealed no statistically significant differences between two-parent and single-parent families on any variables with the exception of ethnicity, for which a greater proportion of Caucasians and Hispanic families had two- parent families compared with African-American families (chi(2) = 8.68, p = .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that FBT may be an appropriate and efficacious treatment for single-parent families as well as two-parent families, despite the reliance on parental intervention to reduce bulimic symptoms and normalize eating patterns.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. acdoyle@uchicago.edu
authors: Angela Celio
authors: AC
authors: Doyle
authors: Carmen
authors: C
authors: McLean
authors: Blaine N
authors: BN
authors: Washington
authors: Renee Rienecke
authors: RR
authors: Hoste
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: le Grange
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D003710:Demography; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020954:Single-Parent Family / Q000523:psychology*