Predictors of outcome among young adult patients with anorexia nervosa in a randomised controlled trial.

Abstract

The prognosis in cases of anorexia nervosa (AN) is unsatisfactory, and it is therefore important to examine pretreatment predictors of outcome. Female AN patients (N=74) included in a randomised controlled trial receiving individual cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or family-based treatment (FBT) were included. Predictors of the outcome were explored using pretreatment eating disorder psychopathology. In the CBT group, lower levels of emotional dysregulation and greater deficits in identifying and coping with inner states were predictors of weight increase, explaining 37.7% of the variance. In the FBT group, lower interoceptive deficits predicted an increase in weight (explaining 17.7% of the variance), whereas bulimic behaviour (32.4%) and problems with emotional regulation (23.3%) were predictors of increased diagnostic symptoms. Bulimic symptoms and the ability to identify and cope with emotional states appear to be important aspects that should be addressed in the treatment of young adult patients with AN.