Being me and being us - adolescents’ experiences of treatment for eating disorders

Abstract

BackgroundThis qualitative study addresses adolescents’ perception of treatment for eating disorders. The importance of involving parents in treatment of young people with eating disorders, especially young people with Anorexia Nervosa, is emphasized in a number of studies. Even so, this form of treatment does not work for everybody, not even within a limited diagnostic group. Previous research has revealed that many young people are not entirely satisfied with their treatment. However, there is a lack of knowledge concerning the perspectives of adolescents in outpatient treatment, whose treatment often involves family. The aim of the present study was to investigate how young people with experience from adolescent outpatient treatment for eating disorders, involving family-based and individual based interventions, perceive their time in treatment.MethodsThis study was conducted using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Fifteen participants were recruited in collaboration with four specialized eating disorder units and interviewed with the purpose to gather narratives.ResultsThe analysis revealed that the adolescents sometimes felt more or less forced into treatment, and strong ambivalent feelings about if and how to participate in treatment permeated the adolescents’ narratives. The common factors which emerged in the narratives were assembled under the two major themes: Having to involve family in treatment - in one way or another and Making progress in treatment - a matter of trust.ConclusionsIt is of great importance to involve family in treatment in order to understand the problems of the adolescents in their context and be able to take advantage of the resource that parents constitute. However, in certain situations, it is necessary to prioritise individual treatment interventions so that instead of sorting out difficult family situations the therapist focuses on enhancing the young people’s resilience, thus enabling them to tackle problematic situations in life.

Navigating the university transition among women who self‐report an eating disorder: A qualitative study

“…This qualitative finding is consistent with prior studies about barriers to ED treatment (Ali et al, 2017;Eisenberg, Nicklett, Roeder, & Kirz, 2011;Lipson et al, 2017). Our findings corroborate previous work that has called for a reexamination of the transition to adult ED care (Dimitropoulos et al, 2012;Fairburn & Harrison, 2003;Lindstedt, Neander, Kjellin, & Gustafsson, 2015). This sentiment was echoed by our participants who attributed a perceived lack of external accountability as a reason for symptom exacerbations.…”

“…This sentiment was echoed by our participants who attributed a perceived lack of external accountability as a reason for symptom exacerbations. Our findings corroborate previous work that has called for a reexamination of the transition to adult ED care (Dimitropoulos et al, 2012;Fairburn & Harrison, 2003;Lindstedt, Neander, Kjellin, & Gustafsson, 2015). Given that participants described difficulty navigating the balance of external accountability with selfresponsibility, we suggest exploring this specific phenomenon in future transition-of-care studies.…”

Living with a sibling who suffers from an eating disorder: a pilot interview study

“…This may also cause feelings of guilt in the ill sibling. A recent study found that adolescents who recovered from ED have a strong sense of guilt about having become the focus of the parents’ attention at the expense of the healthy siblings during their illness 18. In family-based treatment for ED, restoring healthy boundaries between siblings and their parents is considered an important objective.…”

Now you see it, Now you don’t: compulsive exercise in adolescents with an eating disorder

“…Another factor to be taken into account is that minimizing or denying symptoms is common in adolescents with ED [25], possibly affecting the validity of symptom assessment. We therefore sought to explore this particular feature as a possible confounder, under the umbrella term “denial of illness”.…”