Clinicians’ views on parental involvement in the treatment of adolescent anorexia nervosa

A questionnaire and in-depth interviews with 20 allied health clinicians generated data on key aspects of family-based treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa that enhance recovery, processes that engage parents in treatment, and how and why clinicians modify or adapt the manualized Maudsley Family Based Treatment model. Findings indicate that clinicians support key principles in the Maudsley model, but that the approach is not implemented in the full, manualized form. Rather, aspects are integrated with clinicians’ own clinical judgements based on assessment of the needs and capacities of families, cultural appropriateness, impact on family dynamics, and gains during early treatment.