Early intervention for adolescents with anorexia nervosa: Pilot evaluation of an outpatient group therapy prior to inpatient treatment.

Objective: An increasing demand for inpatient treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN) during and after the Covid-19 pandemic contrasts with limited capacity and long waiting times. The current pilot study evaluated an outpatient group therapy (GT) as early intervention for adolescents with AN prior to inpatient treatment.

Methods: Seventeen female adolescents who participated at the GT (intervention group, INT) were compared to 16 adolescents without GT (treatment-as-usual, TAU). BMI, eating disorder psychopathology and motivation of change (MoC) were assessed at three timepoints.

Results: Comparing pre- versus post- group participation, we identified a significant increase of MoC and a trend towards a decreased AN-specific psychopathology. Comparing INT with TAU adolescents, we found a significant lower AN psychopathology at inpatient admission for the INT group and a trend for different BMI courses: While the BMI of the TAU group decreased during waiting time, the INT group did not show a decrease during GT resulting in a higher BMI at admission.

Conclusions: Results of the current pilot study suggest positive effects of an early outpatient intervention in a group setting for adolescents with AN prior to inpatient treatment. Further research with larger sample sizes is necessary to validate the current pilot results.