Background: Family therapy is considered as the gold standard in treatment of adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN). Among the different types of family therapy, multi-family therapy (MFT) is increasingly used for treating AN, and shows promising results. In this article, our focus relied on the patients’ and their parents’ perceptions of the effectiveness and the underlying mechanisms of the MFT. Methods: The present pilot exploratory qualitative study included two focus groups conducted using a semi-structured approach: one with the adolescents (n = 3), and another with one or two of their parents (n = 4 mothers; n = 2 fathers). The subjects discussed were the changes observed in both AN symptoms and family interactions following therapy, and the mechanisms underlying these changes. We crossed the perspectives of the adolescents and of the parents on these two points. Results: Qualitative analysis revealed that while both adolescents and parents had difficulties relating the changes they observed in the last year to MFT, they were able to say that the group cohesion had several positive effects and that their family dynamics had improved. In the light of analysis the adolescents perceived more improvements related eating disorders symptoms than their parents did, while parents were concerned about a negative effect of MFT on their children. Discussion: While both patients and parents perceived improvements in both AN symptoms and family interactions in the past year, it was not clear if they considered MFT to have led to these improvements. FG also explored the MFT mechanisms underlying changes. Both adolescents and their parents stressed the beneficial effects of identification to others members of the group and shared experience to overcome social isolation. Parents also mentioned the sympathy they felt for each other. The idea that they give a central place to families in the therapy was also described by the families.

Prior to 1975, the scientific literature mainly used to compare obese with normal-weight subjects or subjects with or without an eating disorder. This period was followed by the emergence of "unrestrained eaters", who have "normal" eating behaviors versus "restrained eaters", who are normal-weight individuals with similar eating behavioral patterns than those of obese people [2]. After this first observation, the definition of a "restrained eater" has developed and came into a consensus: it describes someone who constantly deliberately controls his food intake in order to maintain or lose weight [3]. This person could have a normal bodyweight, be overweight or even obese and the dietary control could be efficient or ineffective [4]. Here, the intention to control food intake is the main characteristic. It is not surprising that CR is most often identified in individuals AbstractCognitive Restraint, a mind control over food intake in order to lose or maintain weight, leads to harmful consequences in individuals suffering from overweight or obesity. These consequences include an alteration of internal perceptions of hunger and satiety, a disinhibition, an emotional dysregulation and a decrease in selfesteem and body satisfaction. Nevertheless, the systematic review on the subject highlights a lack of consensus. In fact, many studies suggest that flexible control, or even an increase in self-control could be efficient to lose weight and improve an individual's psychological factors. After presenting each point of view and its arguments as well as the internal validity of studies, we will discuss promising future research perspectives.

Background The mobile app market differs from country to country, and to date, no previous review of the content quality of smoking cessation apps has been conducted in France. Objective This study aimed to examine the general quality of the most popular smoking cessation apps in France and also determine the degree to which apps adhere to established behavioral and cognitive techniques (BCTs) proven effective in clinical practice. Methods A systematic research of smoking cessation apps was conducted in both the Google Play Store and Apple Store in the French market. The general quality of popular apps was rated with the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), and the therapeutic quality was assessed with the ratio of adherence of the behavior change technique taxonomy for smoking cessation treatment. Results A total of 14 mobile apps met all the inclusion criteria of the content analysis. The interrater reliability varied from “substantial” (0.79) to “almost perfect” (0.9) for the two measures. The mean MARS score was 3.5 out of 5 (median 3.6, IQR 0.6 [3.2-3.8]). The findings suggest that popular apps focus primarily on the functionality dimension of the MARS scale (4.2/5). The mean number of BCTs was 22, with a large difference between apps (minimum 4, maximum 38). At least half of the apps addressed motivation (8.8/14, 63%) and advised on using behavioral skills in order to quit smoking or stay a nonsmoker (8.7/14, 62%). However, only a handful of apps gathered important information (5.9/14, 42%) in order to deliver proper advice regarding the use of approved medication or the implementation of behavioral techniques (4.3/14, 31%). The mean MARS score was positively correlated with the price (r=0.70, P=.007) and the number of BCTs used (r=0.67, P=.01). User rating was not correlated with any quality scale (P=.67). Conclusions The content quality of popular smoking cessation apps in France varied by app type and price. Most popular apps propose in general good quality content but lack implementation of evidence-based BCTs associated with effectiveness on smoking cessation treatment. Further research is needed to evaluate the improvement in the content quality of smoking cessation apps in France.

No abstract

No abstract