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Are single‐parent families different from two‐parent families in the treatment of adolescent bulimia nervosa using family‐based treatment?
Author(s) -
Doyle Angela Celio,
McLean Carmen,
Washington Blaine N.,
Hoste Renee Rienecke,
le Grange Daniel
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.20584
Subject(s) - bulimia nervosa , psychology , binge eating , psychiatry , ethnic group , randomized controlled trial , single parent , family therapy , intervention (counseling) , clinical psychology , eating disorders , medicine , developmental psychology , sociology , anthropology
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. Method: 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 (χ 2 = 8.68, p = .01). Discussion: 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. © 2008 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2009