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.
List of papers. The papers are removed from the thesis due to publisher restrictions.
Paper I: Dahlgren, C.L., Lask, B., Landrø, NI & Rø, Ø. (2013). Developing and Evaluating Cognitive Remediation Therapy for Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa: A Feasibility Study. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry. July 2014 vol. 19 no. 3 476-487
doi:10.1177/1359104513489980 An accepted version is available in DUO open research archive
URN:NBN:no-44055
Paper II: Dahlgren, C.L., Lask, B., Landrø, NI & Rø, Ø. (2013). Neuropsychological Functioning in Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa Before and After Cognitive Remediation Therapy: A Feasibility Trial. International Journal of Eating Disorders. 46(6):576-81.
doi:10.1002/eat.22155
Paper III: Dahlgren, C.L., Lask, B., Landrø, NI & Rø, Ø. (2013). Patient and Parental Self-Reports of Executive Functioning in a Sample of Young Females with Anorexia Nervosa Before and After Cognitive Remediation Therapy. European Eating Disorders Review. 22(1):45-52.
doi:10.1002/erv.2265