Reduction of High Expressed Emotion and Treatment Outcomes in Anorexia Nervosa—Caregivers’ and Adolescents’ Perspective

High expressed emotion (EE) is common in caregivers of patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and associated with poorer outcome for patients. In this study, we examined the prevalence of high EE in caregivers of adolescents with AN and analyzed predictors for EE using multivariate linear regression mo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of clinical medicine 2020-06, Vol.9 (7), p.2021
Main Authors: Philipp, Julia, Truttmann, Stefanie, Zeiler, Michael, Franta, Claudia, Wittek, Tanja, Schöfbeck, Gabriele, Mitterer, Michaela, Mairhofer, Dunja, Zanko, Annika, Imgart, Hartmut, Auer-Welsbach, Ellen, Treasure, Janet, Wagner, Gudrun, Karwautz, Andreas F. K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anorexia
Caregivers
Child & adolescent psychiatry
Clinical medicine
Clinical outcomes
Communication
Eating disorders
Emotions
Families & family life
Illnesses
Intervention
Mothers
Patients
Perceptions
Psychopathology
Teenagers
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Summary:High expressed emotion (EE) is common in caregivers of patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and associated with poorer outcome for patients. In this study, we examined the prevalence of high EE in caregivers of adolescents with AN and analyzed predictors for EE using multivariate linear regression models. We further analyzed whether EE is reduced by the “Supporting Carers of Children and Adolescents with Eating Disorders in Austria” (SUCCEAT) intervention using general linear mixed models and whether a reduction of EE predicts patients’ outcomes. Caregivers were randomly allocated to the SUCCEAT workshop (N = 50) or online intervention (N = 50) and compared to a comparison group (N = 49). EE and patients’ outcomes were assessed at the baseline, post-intervention, and at the 12-month follow-up. Up to 47% of caregivers showed high EE. Lower caregiver skills, higher AN symptom impact, higher levels of depression and motivation to change in caregivers were significant predictors for high EE. EE significantly decreased in the SUCCEAT groups and the comparison group according to the caregivers’, but not the patients’ perspective. The level of reduction could partially predict subjective improvement and improvement in clinically assessed AN symptoms and body mass index of patients. Implementing interventions for caregivers addressing EE in the treatment of adolescents with AN is strongly recommended.
ISSN:2077-0383
2077-0383
DOI:10.3390/jcm9072021