Impact of TBT-S intervention on fathers of young adults with anorexia nervosa in Greece

Introduction

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe illness with significant medical risks and negative repercussions in family life. Parents of patients with AN report high levels of depression, anxiety, and expressed emotion, which refers to parents’ emotional responses toward patients, such as criticism and emotional overinvolvement. Moreover, parents engage in accommodating behaviors or even participate in eating rituals, which may initially provide reassurance to patients but eventually contribute to the maintenance of AN symptoms. Indeed, parental involvement is strongly recommended in the treatment of AN. Family-based interventions and parental skills trainings aim to reduce parental distress and provide parents with skills to support the patient. In the same line, Temperament-Based Treatment with Supports (TBT-S) is a multifamily, intensive intervention for patients with AN and their supports, which incorporates neurobiological and family dimensions. It involves psychoeducation on neurobiological underpinnings and temperamental traits in AN, meal implementation to practice skills to manage dysfunctional family interactions and redirecting expression of temperamental traits in a constructive manner to manage AN symptomatology. Previous findings indicate that parents reported improvements in family functioning, however differences between mothers and fathers regarding the impact of TBT-S intervention have not been investigated. Thus, fathers’ perspective remains largely unexplored.