Online guided self-help family-based treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa

Who could benefit from this research

What this research studies

This project tests whether guided self-help for family-based treatment can deliver similar improvements in eating-related thoughts and weight for adolescents with anorexia nervosa, but more efficiently than traditional therapy. It builds on a prior multisite study showing comparable outcomes with greater efficiency, and it plans to confirm these results in general clinical settings. The study also looks at therapist attitudes toward the guided self-help approach to understand how it could be scaled. Conducted at multiple sites with rigorous implementation science aims, the trial emphasizes real-world applicability and feasibility. Participants are adolescents with anorexia nervosa and their families who would otherwise access standard care.

Why it matters

Where this research is happening

• Stanford University
  Stanford, United States Active

Researchers

• Principal investigator: Lock, James D — Stanford University
• Study coordinator: Lock, James D

Related research

Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.

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• Ketogenic Diet for Weight-Recovered Anorexia Nervosa to Support Metabolism and Eating-Disorder Symptoms

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• Point-of-care RH risk tool for refeeding in anorexia nervosa

  A quick, clinician-friendly risk tool helps predict who with anorexia nervosa might develop dangerous low phosphorus during hospitalization, guiding safer feeding and monitoring.

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• Guided Online Self-Help Family-Based Treatment for Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa

  A study tests if an online guided self-help version of family-based treatment works as well as standard treatment for teens with anorexia nervosa, in real-world clinics.

  NIH research Stanford University · Stanford, United States · NIH-11396442

• Online guided family-based program for adolescents with anorexia nervosa

  This project offers an online guided family-based program to help adolescents with anorexia nervosa improve symptoms while using much less therapist time than standard family therapy.

  NIH research Stanford University · Stanford, United States · NIH-11385617

• Understanding how people with Anorexia Nervosa value foods

  This project explores how individuals with anorexia nervosa assign value to different foods and how brain activity relates to those choices, using brain imaging, eye tracking, and computer models.

  NIH research University of Chicago · Chicago, United States · NIH-11369143

About this research

1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.