Therapeutic engagement: Perspectives from adolescents with eating disorders

Shannon Zaitsoff; Angelina Yiu; Rachelle Pullmer; Josie Geller; Rosanne Menna

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2015.10.010

Therapeutic engagement: Perspectives from adolescents with eating disorders

Psychiatry Res. 2015 Dec 15;230(2):597-603. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2015.10.010. Epub 2015 Oct 13.

Authors

Shannon Zaitsoff¹, Angelina Yiu², Rachelle Pullmer³, Josie Geller⁴, Rosanne Menna⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Electronic address: shannon_zaitsoff@sfu.ca.
² Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States. Electronic address: angelina.yiu@temple.edu.
³ Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
⁴ Eating Disorders Program, Saint Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

PMID: 26493323
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2015.10.010

Abstract

This study aimed to identify factors that adolescents with eating disorders (ED) consider important for therapeutic engagement, and to examine similarities and differences in the number of identified factors considered important for therapeutic engagement based on diagnostic status and readiness and motivation to change dietary restriction behaviors. Treatment seeking adolescent females (n=34, Mage=16.33, SD=1.34) with an ED were prompted to generate responses to 4 constructs related to therapeutic engagement: (1) Trust, (2) Agreement on therapeutic goals, (3) Confidence in Ability to Change and (4) Feelings of Inclusion in therapeutic decisions. A coding scheme for each construct was developed using a random sample of responses, and each category within a construct was rated as present or absent for each participant. Frequencies and percentages of participants who reported each category within each construct are reported. Additionally, findings indicate that the top two out of three categories reported within each construct were the same between participants with AN versus EDNOS, and between participants high and low in readiness and motivation to change dietary restriction behaviors. This study is a first step in identifying aspects of therapeutic engagement that are important to adolescents with ED, which may differ from adults.

Keywords: Adolescents; Eating disorders; Therapeutic engagement.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Child
Feeding and Eating Disorders / therapy*
Female
Humans
Patient Participation / psychology*
Process Assessment, Health Care*
Professional-Patient Relations*
Psychotherapeutic Processes*
Qualitative Research