This article provides an updated and comprehensive overview of the empirical literature regarding Multiple Family Therapy (MFT)'s applications to major psychiatric disorders. It shows that MFT's strongest evidence base is for schizophrenia and chronic psychoses, making its psychoeducational model one of the best available practices for these disorders. There is also a growing body of evidence regarding the usefulness of MFT for mood disorders (particularly in children), eating disorders and alcohol‐substance abuse, but more controlled research is needed for these conditions. Other disorders such as anxiety disorders, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have been studied in a more anecdotal fashion and require more rigorous investigations. Future research efforts should focus on: (1) the specific advantage of MFT over other active treatment modalities, (2) the comparative efficacy of various MFT models for a given population, and (3) MFT's change processes. Practitioner points McFarlane's psychoeducational MFT model is considered best practice for schizophrenia and other psychoses (and possibly mood disorders), facilitated by its manual‐based approach The Maudsley model is a valuable treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa. Family therapists who are less ED‐focused in their interventions can also use more generic MFT models MFT practitioners should attempt to operationalize their MFT model and include an evaluation component in their therapeutic implementation

Multiple Family Therapy (MFT) has gained increasing popularity in the treatment of eating disorders and many programs have been developed over the past decade. Still, there is little evidence in the literature on the effectiveness on MFT for treating eating disorders. The present study examines the effects of a particular model of Multiple Family Therapy on eating disorder symptoms, quality of life, and percentage of Expected Body Weight (%EBW) in adolescents with eating disorders (ED). Eighty-two adolescents with ED, aged between 11 and 19 years, were assessed before and after treatment using the Eating Disorders Inventory 2 (EDI-2), the Outcome Questionnaire 45 (OQ-45) and %EBW. Results showed a significant increase in %EBW between the beginning and end of treatment, with a large effect size. 52.4% of patients achieved an EBW above 85%. Symptoms relative to all EDI dimensions (except for bulimia) significantly decreased during treatment. The three dimensions related to quality of life assessment also improved over the course of MFT. At the end of treatment, 70.7% of patients had a total OQ-45 score below clinical significance. This study suggests that Multiple Family Therapy may benefit adolescents with eating disorders, with improvement on several outcome measures (%EBW, ED symptoms, and quality of life). However, the lack of a comparison group entails caution when drawing conclusions.

Multiple family therapy (MFT) is a therapeutic method that brings together several families affected by the same pathology. Although from an ideological and conceptual point of view, MFT is often linked to family therapy and group therapy, it is difficult to define it with precision, a weakness which may in turn hinder research on therapeutic effectiveness. This is most notable in the field of eating disorders (ED) where, in spite of MFT's great popularity, research evidence remains limited. Within the context of a systematic review of the literature on MFT in the treatment of anorexia nervosa, the purpose of this article is to provide a theoretical and clinical framework for describing two MFT models, in an attempt to explore their common and distinct concepts, principles, techniques, and factors of change. The first program is a day treatment adaptation of the Maudsley family-based MFT approach, developed in Belgium at the Therapeutic Centre for Adolescents suffering from Eating Disorders: it focuses on the management of ED symptoms, using a strong cognitive behavioral orientation. The second is an integrated systemic MFT outpatient and inpatient program carried out on the ED unit of a pediatric hospital in Paris, France: it emphasizes intra- and inter-family relationships within a systemic framework. Our effort to describe and compare these two models constitutes a first step toward determining the relative value of different models of MFT. Indeed, each model presents specific characteristics that may make it best suited for specific ED populations and/or types of families.

This article provides an updated overview of the empirical literature regarding Multiple Family Therapy's (MFT) applications to non‐psychiatric conditions and problems. Although the evidence is not as strong for these disorders as for psychiatric disorders, the benefits of MFT approaches are apparent in the following areas: family management of several severe chronic medical illnesses; prevention of educational failure and exclusion; and treatment of marital distress. MFT research in non‐psychiatric settings has been faced with unique challenges that have mitigated the quality and quantity of outcome and process research produced over the past decade. Future research efforts should focus on: (1) stronger commitment to the evaluation of ongoing MFT programmes; (2) identification and manualization of major MFT programmes; (3) more Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs) on the effectiveness of MFT programmes in community settings; and (4) higher priority for research on MFT's change processes and patterns of interaction. Practitioner points The treatment of chronic physical diseases is optimized by involving family members, and MFT is a valuable way of doing so: workshops delivered in brief formats are most feasible MFT should be considered for non‐psychiatric problems with the risk of isolation and stigmatization. The presence of other families sharing the same challenges is very useful MFT practitioners should attempt to operationalize their MFT model and include an evaluation component in their therapeutic implementation as routine practice

Multiple Family Therapy (MFT) has gained increasing popularity in the treatment of eating disorders and many programs have been developed over the past decade. In this presentation, we examine the effects of a particular model of MFT on eating disorder symptoms, quality of life (OQ-45) and percentage of expected body weight (%EBW) in adolescents with anorexia nervosa. Eighty-two ED adolescents, aged between 11 and 19 years, were assessed pre-, post- treatment and at one-year follow-up using the EDI-2, the OQ-45 and %EBW. Results showed a significant increase in %EBW between the beginning of treatment and the end of treatment. At one-year follow- up, %EBW continue to improve significantly. Symptoms relative to all EDI dimensions (except for bulimia) significantly decreased during treatment. The three dimensions related to quality of life assessment also improved over the course of MFT. At the end of treatment, 70.7% of the patients had a total OQ-45 score below clinical significance. At one-year follow-up, no significant differences were found for the OQ measures and for the EDI measures, showing quality of life, ED symptoms and related psychological features stabilise after the end of treatment. This study suggests that Multiple Family Therapy may benefit adolescents with anorexia nervosa, with improvement on several outcome measures at the end of treatment, remaining stable at one-year follow-up. The improvement of %EBW at one-year follow-up indicate MFT continue to have effects after treatment is complete. However, the lack of a comparison group entails caution when drawing conclusions.