Early response to family‐based treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine if early weight gain predicted remission at the end of treatment in a clinic sample of adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN). METHOD: Sixty five adolescents with AN (mean age = 14.9 years, SD = 2.1), from two sites (Chicago n = 45; Columbia n = 20) received a course of manualized family-based treatment (FBT). Response to treatment was assessed using percent ideal body weight (IBW) with remission defined as having achieved ≥ 95% IBW at end of treatment (Session 20). RESULTS: Receiver operating characteristic analyses showed that a gain of at least 2.88% in ideal body weight by Session 4 best predicted remission at end of treatment (AUC = 0.674; p = 0.024). DISCUSSION: Results suggest that adolescents with AN, receiving FBT, who do not show early weight gain are unlikely to remit at end of treatment.