Qualitative Evaluation of Change Processes in Multifamily Therapy for Adolescents With Anorexia Nervosa

NCT06091306 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: APHP2306622023-A00668-37
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 138
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Anorexia nervosa is a characterised disorder which forms part of the wider spectrum of eating disorders. It is a common pathology, particularly in adolescence, with a complex, severe prognosis in both somatic and psychiatric terms, and significant psychosocial consequences, particularly for family relationships. The treatment of anorexia requires a multidisciplinary team of specialists who can offer individual and family-based approaches. International recommendations highlight the encouraging results of family therapy in the treatment of anorexia nervosa in adolescence. Various types of family approach exist, including "Family Based Treatments", which are a specific but highly effective approach, particularly widespread in the United States. Multifamily therapy (MFT), which involves bringing several families together to address the problem of anorexia, has proved effective for several years now. Since January 2019, multifamily therapy has been offered to adolescents aged 12 to 18 who are being followed at the Maison de Solenn-Maison des Adolescents at Cochin hospital, for anorexia nervosa, as well as their families. Each group brings together 5 to 7 families and comprises 10 3-hour sessions, with 3 weeks between each session. 2 groups are offered per year. Multi-family therapy therefore involves 10 to 14 families per year. It complements the other approaches available in the department. To be able to describe the therapeutic processes at work in multifamily groups in order to be able to better describe our therapeutic device and envisage possible modifications. These processes would be broken down into four areas: MFT and its effects on the anorexic symptom, MFT and its effects on the family, MFT as group therapy and ways of improving the MFT system.

Conditions

Anorexia Nervosa

Keywords

Anorexia nervosa; Adolescence; Familial relationships; Multiple family therapy groups; Group therapy; Therapeutic process; Qualitative study

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Semi-structured qualitative interviews

  Semi-structured individual or group (focus group) interviews following a pre-designed interview guide. The qualitative analysis of our research concerns the thematic analysis of the participants' discourse (adolescent patients, parents and siblings of these adolescents), so the main evaluation criterion concerns the extraction of sufficiently rich material from the discourse to carry out this analysis.

  Day of inclusion

Study Arms (1)

Participants in a multifamily therapy group for adolescents, their parents and siblings

The study is therefore being proposed to all the families who have taken part in the multifamily therapy for anorexia nervosa, i.e. the adolescents being followed, their parents and siblings. The investigators propose to use a qualitative methodology aimed at collecting the experiences of patients suffering from anorexia nervosa, their parents and their siblings, using alternately, depending on the group, data collection by focus group or by individual semi-structured interview according to a semi-structured interview guide specifically designed by the research team. The data was collected 4 to 6 months after the tenth and final session of the multi-family group.

Behavioral: Psychotherapy

Interventions

Psychotherapy BEHAVIORAL

Multifamily therapy (MFT), which involves bringing several families together to address the problem of anorexia nervosa, has proved effective for several years now. Since January 2019, multifamily therapy has been offered to adolescents aged 12 to 18 who are being treated for anorexia nervosa at the Maison de Solenn-Maison des Adolescents at Cochin Hospital, and to their families. Each group brings together 5 to 7 families and comprises 10 3-hour sessions, with 3 weeks between each session. 2 groups are offered per year. Multifamily therapy therefore involves 10 to 14 families per year. It complements the other approaches available in the department.

Also known as: Multifamily Therapy for anorexia nervosa during adolescence

Participants in a multifamily therapy group for adolescents, their parents and siblings

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 6 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study is therefore being offered to all families who have taken part in multifamily therapy for anorexia nervosa, i.e. the adolescent patients being treated for anorexia nervosa, their parents and siblings. These patients and their families come from the clinical population followed in our institution for anorexia nervosa: the Maison des Adolescents of the Cochin Hospital - Maison de Solenn (APHP, Paris). Participation in a multi-family group is complementary to the usual care provided in the department (psychiatric, pediatric and dietetic follow-up) and does not replace the usual individual care.

You may qualify if:

• Families who have taken part in a multifamily group on anorexia nervosa, i.e. :
• Parents (or any adult identified as a referent by the teenager), teenagers and siblings (over 6 years old) who have taken part in multi-family therapy (people from the teenager's family who have not taken part in the group will not be included),
• Adolescents aged 12 to 20,
• Adolescents with anorexia nervosa according to DSM5 criteria,
• Adolescents treated at the Maison des Adolescents at Cochin Hospital,
• Non-opposition of adolescents, their parents and siblings.
• It will be possible to include in the study a parent or sibling whose adolescent did not wish to take part in the research but who participated in the MFT group.

You may not qualify if:

• Contraindication to multifamily therapy (i.e. any family situation that makes it impossible to bring parents and children together in family therapy without changing the setting (parents stripped of parental authority, educational removal measure, mediated visits, etc.),
• Any patient whose main diagnosis is not anorexia nervosa according to DSM5 criteria.
• Patients with an autistic spectrum disorder, a chronic psychotic disorder or an intellectual disability as their primary or secondary diagnosis according to DSM 5.
• Participants under curatorship or guardianship
• Participants not covered by a Social Security scheme.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris: lead
• URC-CIC Paris Descartes Necker Cochin: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University Hospital Cochin, Maison des Adolescents - Youth Department (Maison de Solenn)

Paris, Île-de-France Region, 75014, France

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anorexia Nervosa

Interventions

Psychotherapy; Psychotherapy, Group

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Feeding and Eating Disorders; Mental Disorders

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Disciplines and Activities; Socioenvironmental Therapy

Study Officials

• Marie-Rose MORO, MD, PhD

  University Hospital Cochin, Maison des Adolescents - Youth Department, F-75014 Paris, France

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Salomé Grandclerc, MD

  University Hospital Cochin, Maison des Adolescents - Youth Department, F-75014 Paris, France

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Salomé Grandclerc, MD

CONTACT

0033158412426; salome.grandclerc@aphp.fr

Marie Benhammani-Godard

CONTACT

0033158411190; marie.godard@aphp.fr

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE ONLY
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 13, 2023
• First Posted: October 19, 2023
• Study Start: December 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2027
• Last Updated: September 12, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

FR (1)