Patients' Perspective on Family Therapy for Anorexia Nervosa: A Qualitative Inquiry in a Chinese Context

Abstract

This article presents a qualitative study of the subjective experiences of 24 Chinese adolescents and young women who have been suffering from anorexia nervosa and who have received family treatment from a university‐based family treatment centre in Hong Kong. In‐depth post‐treatment interviews were conducted and have been transcribed and thematised using content analysis. The narratives that have emerged have facilitated hearing the clients' and their family members' voices, especially in the areas of (a) perceived concepts of family therapy, (b) the perceived therapeutic relationship and its linkage to positive change, (c) perceived intervention strategies as employed in family treatment, and (d) the participants' own role in problem‐solving. The study has enabled the author to refine the family treatment model, which has been adapted from the Micucci's (1998) model, with additional components introduced by the author to enhance family treatment in a Chinese context.

Metasynthesis of the Views about Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa in Adolescents: Perspectives of Adolescents, Parents, and Professionals

“…This process enabled the parents to work on family interactions and family history [38,56]. This therapy also enabled the family to play an active role in care [56,57,58].…”

“…This process enabled the parents to work on family interactions and family history [38,56]. This therapy also enabled the family to play an active role in care [56,57,58]. Parents described it as a space for expression, sharing emotions, identifying family conflicts, and reconstructing a bond of trust [38,51,56].…”

Developing a model of mental health self-care support for children and young people through an integrated evaluation of available types of provision involving systematic review, meta-analysis and case study

“…Our initial pool of 33 studies with nominally qualitative data contained 17 studies in which participants' views on self-care support interventions were obtained from open-ended questions on a satisfaction survey, conducted as part of a controlled or uncontrolled trial; 12 qualitative (focus group or interview) studies; and four service evaluations. Of these, 11 qualitative studies, 71,100,147,149,150,152,[153][154][155][156][157] one service evaluation 148 and one study with data from an open-ended satisfaction survey 151 met our quality criteria.…”

“…The 13 included papers comprised three British studies (Garraway 2010; 153 Gowers 2010; 71 Stewart-Brown 2004 100 ), four from the USA, 151,152,154,157 two from Australia, 149,150 and one each from Jamaica, 147 Ireland, 148 Hong Kong 155 and Denmark in collaboration with Lithuania. 156 A range of mental health conditions were covered: four considered general mental health conditions (where a specific condition was not 149,151 and one psychosis.…”

“…There was no particular pattern to the theoretical perspectives that the interventions employed, with social learning theory, 100,147 solution-focused therapy, 148 behavioural parent training, 100,157 family therapy 155 and multidimensional, eclectic approaches 71,157 all being represented. All but one of the interventions (Garraway 2010 153 ) were professionally led.…”