Aims and MethodDespite considerable knowledge of outcomes for patients who complete treatment for eating disorders, less is known about earlier stages in the treatment journey. This study aimed to map the efficiency of the anticipated patient journey along care pathways. Referrals to specialist eating disorder services (n=1887) were tracked through the process of referral, assessment, treatment and discharge.ResultsThe patient mortality rate was low. However, there were serious problems of attrition throughout the care pathways. of the original referrals where a meaningful conclusion could be reached, in approximately 35% the person was never seen, only half entered treatment and only a quarter reached the end of treatment.Clinical ImplicationsThis study demonstrates considerable inefficiency of resource utilisation. Suggestions are made for reducing this inefficiency, to allow more patients the opportunity of evidence-based care.

This study describes the psychometric validation of the young parenting inventory (YPI), and tested specific hypotheses regarding the link between one's experience of their parent's behaviors and the development of schema-level core beliefs. The YPI is a measure of perceived parenting experiences, hypothesized to represent the origins of negative core beliefs. This preliminary validation consisted of analyses of factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity. A large non-clinical student sample (N = 422) completed the YPI, and a subset also completed the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short form (YSQ-S). Factor analyses demonstrated that a shorter version of the questionnaire (YPI-R) could be developed to represent coherent and meaningful perceptions of each parent. The YPI-R consists of nine scales. Each scale had good test-retest reliability and adequate internal consistency. Significant associations between the YPI-R scales and negative core beliefs (as measured by the YSQ-S) indicated partial construct validity. At this preliminary stage, it can be concluded that the YPI-R has an acceptable level of psychometric utility. However, the hypothesized parenting-negative core belief links were not all substantiated.

In those patients where parenting is implicated in the development of eating pathology, treatment might need to target the cognitive processes that can explain this link.