Authors
Natasha Allen, Amy Kecher, Liesje Donkin
Published in
The International journal of eating disorders. Oct 12, 2026. Epub Oct 12, 2026.
Abstract
Family-based treatment (FBT) is the recommended first-line outpatient treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa (AN) in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), but places substantial responsibility on parents/caregivers. Although caregiver burden in FBT is increasingly recognized internationally, in-depth qualitative work situated in the NZ service context is lacking. This study explored how caregivers experienced participating in FBT for adolescent AN in NZ.
Twelve caregivers participated in semi-structured interviews between May and July 2025. Interviews were analyzed within an interpretive description framework using reflexive thematic analysis.
Three themes were developed: confronting a life-threatening illness within an under-resourced and often unresponsive healthcare system; implementing an overwhelming, isolating treatment with limited guidance; and living with the lingering psychological toll long after FBT concluded. Caregivers described experiences relating to caring for someone with AN and supporting them through treatment as consistent with trauma-implicated stressors, although traumatic stress was not formally assessed.
These findings show how systemic, structural, and relational factors intersect to shape caregivers' experiences and highlight the need for better-resourced, trauma-informed adaptations of FBT that position caregivers and young people as co-central partners in care.
PMID:
42864277
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Oct 2026.
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