Cognitive Remediation Therapy for Young Female Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa – Assessing the Feasibility of a Novel Eating Disorder Intervention

Abstract

Cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) is a novel treatment for individuals suffering from anorexia nervosa (AN). The treatment focuses on the process of thought, and aims to raise awareness of how cognitions and behaviors characterised by rigidity and preoccupation with details, common in AN, can be altered through practice and metacognitive techniques. In keeping with the Medical Research Council’s framework for systematically evaluating complex interventions, this doctoral thesis presents results from a feasibility trial of CRT for 20 female adolescents with AN, investigating rates of recruitment and retention, treatment delivery and assessment methods. The first paper is descriptive in its nature, and investigates various aspects of treatment delivery and factors associated with recruitment of patients, and treatment adherence. The second paper reports the investigation of the technicalities of assessing changes associated with CRT using psychological and neuropsychological methods and measures. The third paper describes the evaluation of a novel mode of CRT assessment: patient and parental self-reports, and delineates discrepancies between patients and parents in terms of executive function and dysfunction. The results from this dissertation indicate that CRT is feasible for adolescents with AN. However, further investigations are warranted to refine methodology prior to the initiation of a randomised controlled trial.