Interpersonal Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Eating Disorders

One in 7 US children and adolescents is obese, yet little is known about their health-related quality of life (QOL). To examine the health-related QOL of obese children and adolescents compared with children and adolescents who are healthy or those diagnosed as having cancer. Cross-sectional study of 106 children and adolescents (57 males) between the ages of 5 and 18 years (mean [SD], 12.1 [3] years), who had been referred to an academic children's hospital for evaluation of obesity between January and June 2002. Children and adolescents had a mean (SD) body mass index (BMI) of 34.7 (9.3) and BMI z score of 2.6 (0.5). Child self-report and parent proxy report using a pediatric QOL inventory generic core scale (range, 0-100). The inventory was administered by an interviewer for children aged 5 through 7 years. Scores were compared with previously published scores for healthy children and adolescents and children and adolescents diagnosed as having cancer. Compared with healthy children and adolescents, obese children and adolescents reported significantly (P<.001) lower health-related QOL in all domains (mean [SD] total score, 67 [16.3] for obese children and adolescents; 83 [14.8] for healthy children and adolescents). Obese children and adolescents were more likely to have impaired health-related QOL than healthy children and adolescents (odds ratio [OR], 5.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.4-8.7) and were similar to children and adolescents diagnosed as having cancer (OR, 1.3; 95% CI, 0.8-2.3). Children and adolescents with obstructive sleep apnea reported a significantly lower health-related QOL total score (mean [SD], 53.8 [13.3]) than obese children and adolescents without obstructive sleep apnea (mean [SD], 67.9 [16.2]). For parent proxy report, the child or adolescent's BMI z score was significantly inversely correlated with total score (r = -0.246; P =.01), physical functioning (r = -0.263; P<.01), social functioning (r = -0.347; P<.001), and psychosocial functioning (r = -0.209; P =.03). Severely obese children and adolescents have lower health-related QOL than children and adolescents who are healthy and similar QOL as those diagnosed as having cancer. Physicians, parents, and teachers need to be informed of the risk for impaired health-related QOL among obese children and adolescents to target interventions that could enhance health outcomes.

One of the most critical issues in mental health services research is the gap between what is known about effective treatment and what is provided to consumers in routine care. Concerted efforts are required to advance implementation science and produce skilled implementation researchers. This paper seeks to advance implementation science in mental health services by over viewing the emergence of implementation as an issue for research, by addressing key issues of language and conceptualization, by presenting a heuristic skeleton model for the study of implementation processes, and by identifying the implications for research and training in this emerging field.

Evidence-based practice (EBP), a preferred psychological treatment approach, requires training of community providers. The systems-contextual (SC) perspective, a model for dissemination and implementation efforts, underscores the importance of the therapist, client, and organizational variables that influence training and consequent therapist uptake and adoption of EBP. This review critiques the extant research on training in EBP from an SC perspective. Findings suggest that therapist knowledge improves and attitudinal change occurs following training. However, change in therapist behaviors (e.g., adherence, competence, and skill) and client outcomes only occurs when training interventions address each level of the SC model and include active learning. Limitations as well as areas for future research are discussed.