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After inpatient hospitalizations, adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa often decline. These 60 female adolescents with anorexia nervosa (mean age, 16.6) who were at the point of hospital discharge were randomized to 18 months of ambulatory treatment as usual, either alone or augmented with family therapy focusing on family dynamic issues, but not on eating behaviors or weight.
At study inclusion, patients had been ill for an average of 16.6 months and had a mean body-mass index of 16.9 (mean lowest BMI, 13.6). Fifty-one families were intact. Treatment as usual consisted of individual consultations, interviews involving the parents, and, if needed, individual psychotherapy with another therapist. The psychiatrist prescribed medication as…