Adapting family-based treatment for paediatric obesity: A randomized controlled pilot trial.

Objective: This pilot study aimed to refine and test an adaption of family-based treatment (FBT) for eating disorders that addressed the distinct clinical needs of adolescents with overweight or obesity in the absence of eating disorder pathology. Our hypothesis was that FBT for paediatric obesity (FBT-PO) would be feasible to implement and superior to a nutrition education counselling (NEC) condition delivered to both parents and patients, thereby controlling for key information dissemination across groups while manipulating active therapeutic content and strategy.

Method: Seventy-seven adolescents were randomized to FBT-PO or NEC across two sites.

Anxiety in anorexia nervosa and its management using family-based treatment.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is characterized by its similarity to anxiety disorders, especially obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Family-based treatment (FBT) has shown promising initial results for treatment of AN in adolescents, yet the precise mechanisms of action are unknown. We present a theoretical argument and model, suggesting that FBT may work via exposure (and habituation) to food and its consumption.

Are there specific metacognitive processes associated with anxiety disorders in youth?

While Wells' metacognitive model of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) posits that certain metacognitive processes, such as negative meta-worry (negative beliefs about worry), are more strongly associated with symptoms of GAD than other anxiety disorders in adults, research has yet to determine whether the same pattern is true for younger individuals. We examined the relationship between several metacognitive processes and anxiety disorder diagnostic status in a sample of 98 youth aged 7-17 years. Twenty youth with GAD were compared with similarly sized groups of youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD, n = 18), social phobia (SOC, n = 20), separation anxiety disorder (SAD, n = 20), and healthy controls who were not patients (NONP, n = 20) using a self-report measure of metacognition adapted for use with young people in this age range (Metacognitions Questionnaire for Children).

The metacognitions questionnaire for children: development and validation in a clinical sample of children and adolescents with anxiety disorders.

A self-report measure of metacognition for both children and adolescents (ages 7-17) (Metacognitions Questionnaire for Children; MCQ-C) was adapted from a previous measure, the MCQ-A (Metacognitions Questionnaire for Adolescents) and was administered to a sample of 78 children and adolescents with clinical anxiety disorders and 20 non-clinical youth. The metacognitive processes included were (1) positive beliefs about worry (positive meta-worry); (2) negative beliefs about worry (negative meta-worry); (3) superstitious, punishment and responsibility beliefs (SPR beliefs) and (4) cognitive monitoring (awareness of one's own thoughts). The MCQ-C demonstrated good internal-consistency reliability, as well as concurrent and criterion validity, and four valid factors.