Parental self-efficacy and distress tolerance in eating disorders

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Does parental efficacy and distress tolerance affect early weight gain in young people receiving Family Based Therapy for eating disorders?

• IRAS ID

  243360

• Contact name

  Layla Hamadi

• Contact email

  layla.hamadi@hmc.ox.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 4 months, 24 days

• Research summary

  Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a serious eating disorder affecting both psychological and physical health. Studies suggest that only half of young people under 18 who receive treatment for AN recover. Identifying variables associated with a better outcome may help to develop more effective treatment strategies.

  NICE guidelines recommend Family Based Therapy as the first-line intervention for AN, for which parents take a large share of responsibility and control. This research will explore whether two parental variables are associated with a better outcome.

  Self-Efficacy: Research evidence suggests a person’s belief in their ability to do something influences how well they are able to do it
  Distress Tolerance: The way that a person manages feelings of distress is associated with how much they will persevere during stressful tasks

  If either of these two variables are found to be related to treatment outcomes, there may be value in developing early, targeted interventions for parents with lower distress tolerance or self-efficacy. Research has shown it is possible to support people to increase their self-efficacy and ability to tolerate distress.

  This prospective, observational study will explore relationships between self-efficacy, distress tolerance and treatment outcome, by recruiting families who accept Family Based therapy for AN in Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust (The sites are based in Oxford, Aylesbury, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset). Parents will be asked to complete questionnaires about self-efficacy and distress tolerance and the young people will be asked for consent to obtain their clinical outcome data.

• REC name

  South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  18/SC/0411

• Date of REC Opinion

  20 Jul 2018

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion