Naya Seligson
Research Mentor: Jessica Van Huysse
Mentor Department: Not Available, Not Available
Author(s): Naya Seligson, Jessica Van Huysse, Shelby Ortiz
Session: Session 6 (3:00 PM – 3:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 7
Abstract
Accurate measurement of symptoms in adolescents with eating disorders is essential in evaluating treatment effectiveness and clinical decision-making. The Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) at the University of Michigan provides intensive, multidisciplinary treatment for adolescents, aged 8-22 with eating disorders who require a structured level of care. The PHP includes 6 hours of treatment, 5 days per week, including 2 meals and 1 snack during the treatment day, therapy groups, and caregiver groups. The PHP emphasizes Family-Based Treatment, which positions parents as the primary agents of change and prioritizes weight restoration through communication and behavioral normalization in the early stages of treatment. The program also collects clinical data from both parents and patients, including questionnaires assessing eating disorder symptoms. Across parent and patient reports, there are often systematic discrepancies between informants that remain underexamined in relation to treatment stage and level of care. This prospective study examines parent-child reporting discrepancies using paired responses on the Eating Disorder-15 (ED-15) at admission and discharge among adolescents engaged in the PHP. We will examine whether difference scores between informants change across treatment, with the hypothesis that patients and parents will become more aligned in over time due to improved communication during FBT. We will also examine whether baseline ED-15 informant discrepancies predict treatment outcomes, including weight restoration and end of treatment eating disorder and anxiety symptoms. Results will inform clinical conceptualization of discrepancies across informants.
