Clinical trial NCT03928028: Shifting Perspectives: Enhancing Outcomes in Anorexia Nervosa With CRT
Official title: Shifting Perspectives: Enhancing Outcomes in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa With Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT)
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Anorexia Nervosa
Lead sponsor: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
First posted: 2019-04-25
Enrollment: 177
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 12
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: FACTORIAL
Intervention model description: Random assignment to one of three groups.
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Anorexia Nervosa is a serious life-threatening illness with a typical age of onset in adolescence; if not effectively treated, it has the potential to significantly impact adolescent development and quality of life. Research on executive functioning in anorexia nervosa indicates that it may be a viable target for intervention that could improve outcome. The current project focuses on determining whether or not the investigators can improve set-shifting in parents and affected adolescents in the hopes that improvements in set-shifting will, ultimately, improve outcome.

Detailed description: This application seeks support for a phased project. In the initial (R61) 2-year phase, the investigators will establish that Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) can increase set-shifting in parents of and/or adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa (AN). The second aim is to determine the appropriate dose needed to achieve positive change in set-shifting. Attaining this milestone would trigger support for three additional years (R33) to confirm target engagement and appropriate dose. The investigators will also evaluate whether or not adding CRT to Family Based Treatment (FBT) will improve outcome compared to FBT alone. Set-shifting (a type of executive functioning often referred to as cognitive flexibility) inefficiencies are hypothesized to be an endophenotype of AN and are, therefore, heritable. Cognitive flexibility can be impacted negatively by situational factors such as malnutrition, stress, and anxiety. It is likely that both adolescents (who are malnourished) and parents (who are under stress) experience significant state-based reduction in their cognitive flexibility during AN and its treatment. While cognitive flexibility can be increased through CRT, there is a significant gap in the knowledge about how to apply CRT to the treatment of adolescent AN, specifically concerning the most appropriate target for CRT: parents or adolescents? The majority of research on CRT with adolescents with AN are pilot and feasibility studies and target set-shifting in adolescents, not parents. The investigators hypothesize that targeting parents may be more impactful for adolescent outcome. First, the investigators must determine if an increase set-shifting via CRT is possible. In the initial R61 phase, the investigators propose to recruit and randomly assign 54 families who have a child with AN to FBT, FBT with parent-focused CRT, or FBT with adolescent-focused CRT. Target engagement will be assessed via neuro-psychological assessment and self-report of cognitive and behavioral flexibility. If the investigators meet these proposed milestones in the R61 phase, they will proceed to the R33 phase. It is possible that one (N = 72 families) or both (N = 93 families) CRT conditions will be examined in the R33 phase. The investigators will confirm the findings from the R61 phase (target engagement and dose of CRT). The investigators will also examine adolescent outcome in FBT alone versus FBT+(parent or adolescent) CRT. They will gather preliminary data on putative moderators and/or mediators across both phases in order to inform results. This phased R61/R33 application is innovative in that it is the first to adapt CRT to parents only. Evidence supporting FBT+CRT to increase set-shifting in parents/adolescents will inform future efforts to leverage understanding of (heritable) neurobiology of AN in adolescents to improve outcome. Further, if CRT for parents significantly improves set-shifting, the investigators can focus efforts on how best to augment current treatments, support parents, and increase positive outcomes for the adolescent and reduce relapse. Even negative results would inform understanding of set-shifting inefficiencies as an endophenotype in AN, its measurement, and usefulness as a target in treatment.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:Adolescents

1. Age 12-18
2. Currently meets Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 criteria for Anorexia Nervosa
3. Medically stable for outpatient treatment
4. Fluent in English
5. No co-morbid condition that would exclude participation
6. Medical clearance from primary care physician and permission to speak to Primary Care Physician about clinical issues
7. Biological parent or primary caregiver willing to engage in treatment and who live with the adolescent

Inclusion Criteria:Parents

1. Age \>18
2. Child with a diagnoses of AN
3. Both parents willing to participate
4. Fluent in English
5. No co-morbid condition that would exclude participation

Exclusion Criteria: Adolescent

1. Adolescent outside age range
2. Adolescent adopted
3. Pregnant adolescent
4. Presence of: pervasive developmental disability, psychosis, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, autism spectrum disorder, or intellectual disability
5. Presence of: a brain disorder or injury (such as TBI) that could impact the ability to engage in treatment
6. Use of anti-psychotic medication
7. Concurrent psychosocial therapy

Exclusion Criteria: Parents

1. Presence of: pervasive developmental disability, psychosis, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, autism spectrum disorder, or intellectual disability.
2. Presence of: a brain disorder or injury (such as TBI) that could impact the ability to engage in treatment
3. Use of anti-psychotic medication

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Cognitive Flexibility - Condition 4 Trail Making Test of DKEFS
timeFrame: 6 months of treatment
measure: Change in Inhibition - Condition 3 of Color-Word Interference, DKEFS
timeFrame: 6 months of treatment
measure: Change in Cognitive Flexibility - Condition 4 of Color Word Interference of DKEFS
timeFrame: 6 months of treatment
measure: Change in Cognitive Flexibility - Verbal Fluency Switching of DKEFS
timeFrame: 6 months of treatment
measure: Change in Cognitive Flexibility - Verbal Fluency Switching of DKEFS
timeFrame: 6 months of treatment
measure: Change in Cognitive Flexibility - Sorting Test Description of DKEFS
timeFrame: 6 months of treatment
measure: Change in Self-Reported Shifting - BRIEF
timeFrame: 6 months of treatment
measure: Dose of CRT
timeFrame: 6 months of treatment
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Philadelphia
country: United States
facility: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
affiliation: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
name: Catherine Alix Timko, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Holliday J, Tchanturia K, Landau S, Collier D, Treasure J. Is impaired set-shifting an endophenotype of anorexia nervosa? Am J Psychiatry. 2005 Dec;162(12):2269-75. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.162.12.2269.
citation: Lang K, Stahl D, Espie J, Treasure J, Tchanturia K. Set shifting in children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa: an exploratory systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Eat Disord. 2014 May;47(4):394-9. doi: 10.1002/eat.22235. Epub 2013 Dec 18.
citation: Roberts ME, Tchanturia K, Stahl D, Southgate L, Treasure J. A systematic review and meta-analysis of set-shifting ability in eating disorders. Psychol Med. 2007 Aug;37(8):1075-84. doi: 10.1017/S0033291707009877. Epub 2007 Jan 30.
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citation: Kucharska K, Kulakowska D, Starzomska M, Rybakowski F, Biernacka K. The improvement in neurocognitive functioning in anorexia nervosa adolescents throughout the integrative model of psychotherapy including cognitive remediation therapy. BMC Psychiatry. 2019 Jan 9;19(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s12888-018-1984-4.
citation: Harrison A, Stavri P, Ormond L, McEnemy F, Akyol D, Qureshi A, Al-Khairulla H. Cognitive remediation therapy for adolescent inpatients with severe and complex anorexia nervosa: A treatment trial. Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2018 May;26(3):230-240. doi: 10.1002/erv.2584. Epub 2018 Mar 15.
citation: Susanin A, Cooper M, Makara A, Kuschner ES, Timko CA. Autistic characteristics in youth with anorexia nervosa before and after treatment. Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2022 Sep;30(5):664-670. doi: 10.1002/erv.2937. Epub 2022 Jul 3.
citation: Timko CA, Bhattacharya A, Fitzpatrick KK, Howe H, Rodriguez D, Mears C, Heckert K, Ubel PA, Ehrenreich-May J, Peebles R. The shifting perspectives study protocol: Cognitive remediation therapy as an adjunctive treatment to family based treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa. Contemp Clin Trials. 2021 Apr;103:106313. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2021.106313. Epub 2021 Feb 1.