title: Are adolescent treatment studies of eating disorders utilizing clinically relevant samples? A comparison of RCT and clinic treatment-seeking youth with eating disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess potential selection bias in participant recruitment for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of adolescent eating disorders (EDs), we compared participants recruited for RCTs evaluating psychosocial treatments with individuals seeking fee-for-service outpatient ED treatment [clinic treatment-seeking (CTS)].
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 214 adolescents presenting to an outpatient ED research-clinical program (92.1% female; M age = 15.4 ± 1.8 years). ANOVA and chi-square tests assessed differences between CTS participants and those presenting for no-cost treatment through RCTs. A secondary analysis compared RCT participants to participants eligible for the RCTs that opted for fee-for-service treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  RCT participants had greater baseline ED and general psychopathology (p < .001); however, CTS participants were more likely to present with a comorbid psychiatric disorder (p < .05) and higher family income (p < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest that RCT participants did not have less pathology than CTS participants. While preliminary, results do not indicate a systematic population bias in selecting healthier patients for RCTs involving adolescent ED.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA. ecsshields@uchicago.edu
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stiles-Shields
authors.forename: Andrea B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Goldschmidt
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lock
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Le Grange
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D002648:Child; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010045:Outpatients; D018579:Patient Selection; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D015983:Selection Bias
keywords: adolescent eating disorders; recruitment; representative samples