A conceptual comparison of family-based treatment and enhanced cognitive behavior therapy in the treatment of adolescents with eating disorders

BACKGROUND: The aim of this paper is to give a conceptual comparison of family-based treatment (FBT), a specific form of family therapy, and enhanced cognitive behavior therapy (CBT-E) in the management of adolescents with eating disorders. MAIN TEXT: FBT and CBT-E differ in the conceptualization of eating disorders, the nature of involvement of parents and the child/adolescent, the number of treatment team members involved, and evidence of efficacy. FBT is the leading recommended empirically- supported intervention for adolescents with eating disorders. Data from randomized controlled trials indicate that FBT works well with less than half of the parents and adolescents who accept the treatment, but cannot be used with those who do not have available parents, or for those with parents who are not accepting of a FBT model, or are unable to participate in a course of this treatment. CBT-E has shown promising results in cohort studies of patients between ages 11 and 19 years, and has recently been recommended for youth with eating disorders when FBT is unacceptable, contraindicated, or ineffective. CONCLUSION: There is a need to compare these two treatments in a randomized controlled trial to assess their acceptability, effectiveness, relative cost and cost-effectiveness, and to explore moderators of treatment response.