Psychoeducation for Parents of Adolescents With Anorexia Nervosa as a Supportive Treatment Approach

This randomized controlled trial will evaluate the effectiveness of a structured four-week psychoeducation program for parents of adolescents diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (AN). The program aims to improve parental coping and improve adolescent treatment outcomes. Seventy adolescents with AN (ages 11-19) and their parents will be recruited at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia. Families will be randomly assigned to either an intervention group, receiving immediate psychoeducation, or a waitlist control group, receiving the program after one month. The psychoeducation program consists of four weekly 90-minute sessions covering eating disorder characteristics, maintaining factors, strategies for normal eating, and approaches for supporting change. Primary outcomes include change in adolescent body mass index (BMI) from baseline to post-intervention and three-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes include adolescent symptoms of eating disorders, anxiety, and depression, as well as parental anxiety, depression, stress, social support, and self-efficacy. The study will test whether early, structured parental involvement through psychoeducation improves both adolescent clinical outcomes and parental coping.

NCT Number	NCT07178977
Lead Sponsor	University Medical Centre Ljubljana Collaborators: University of Ljubljana
Conditions	Eating Disorders, Anorexia Nervosa
Enrollment	70 participants
Start Date	2025-10-01
Primary Completion	2027-12-01 (estimated)
Study Completion	2028-06-01 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2025-09-26