Welcome to this second issue in the fourth volume of Advances in Eating Disorders. We are again pleased to include both original research reports and review papers spanning a range of topics, as well as some of our special feature articles. As usual, we thank all authors for their contributions. We also thank those who have kindly reviewed submitted manuscripts, providing helpful comments and suggestions. In order to guide the reader, brief comment on papers included in this issue is given below.
Cliodhna O’Connora and her colleagues from Ireland present the findings of a vignette-based study investigating adolescents’ understanding of eating disorders and their attitudes towards people affected by them. The authors point out that the results of this study mirror the findings of studies involving adult participants; in this age group also, eating disorders are identified as being more associated with stigmatising attitudes than other physical and mental health problems. O’Connora and colleagues add their voices to calls to address social barriers to service use and to invest in public awareness campaigns specifically targeted at young people. Stigma is an issue we must all continue to actively work at reducing.
From Norway, Kristin Stedal and Camilla Lindvall Dahlgren report on neuropsychological profiles of adolescent males with anorexia nervosa. They set out findings from a case series of 10 adolescent boys, describing this as a start in addressing the very limited literature on neuropsychological functioning in male patients. Inger Halvorsen and her colleagues, also from Norway, then present their findings relating to rates of weight gain during specialised inpatient treatment for anorexia nervosa. They identify shorter duration of hospital stay, lower Body Mass Index at admission and voluntarily treatment as significant predictors of greater weekly weight gain. The authors observe that overall levels of weight gain in participants included in this study are slightly lower than generally recommended guidelines. Weight restoration remains a key focus for low-weight patients and careful consideration needs to be given to optimal environments in which to achieve this.
Finally in our original research reports section, Tatham and colleagues from the UK report on an investigation of the impact on eating disorder psychopathology of a pre-treatment group psychoeducational intervention in outpatients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The research team found the intervention to show more promise in those with bulimia nervosa than in those with anorexia nervosa. They suggest that such groups should be routinely considered when patients are waiting for treatment for bulimia nervosa, but in the case of low-weight patients, further research is required.
We are also pleased to include two review articles, both relating to anorexia nervosa, covering sleep disturbances and young people’s experience of family therapy respectively. Francisca Vieira and colleagues from Portugal provide us with a comprehensive review on sleep disturbances in anorexia nervosa. Their paper represents a useful review on an issue that troubles many people struggling with this disorder and will be useful reading for clinicians. Meredith Medway and Paul Rhodes from Australia set out the findings from their review of qualitative research exploring patients’ experiences of family interventions for anorexia nervosa. They argue that improving understanding of patient experience is important if we are to improve overall treatment outcomes, in particular in an area wherein general treatment outcomes remain less than optimal.
The first of the two special feature articles included in this issue comes from Mel Hart in Australia. This is her second paper in our three-part dietetics series, covering the key concepts of refeeding and rehydration. Emphasis is placed on the importance of thorough assessment and appropriate management of medical complications potentially arising in the context of refeeding. The third and final paper in this dietetics series will appear in our next issue.
We also include an article in our Classics Revisited series. Liz Dodge writes from the perspective of an experienced family therapy trainer and practitioner about the legacy of Minuchin, Rosman, and Baker’s (1978) paper, ‘Psychosomatic families: Anorexia nervosa in context’. Her thoughtful piece reflects on developments in working with families over the 40 years since Minuchin and colleagues’ paper was published and will be of interest and relevance to all clinicians working with patients and their families.
We end with three book reviews and hope that you will find this an interesting, thought provoking and useful issue. We are always pleased to receive submissions for consideration for publication.