Non-violent resistance treatment for parenting stress and parent–child interaction in parents of adolescents with anorexia nervosa: A pilot study

Abstract

Parenting a child with anorexia nervosa (AN) is highly stressful, and the struggles around eating have a large impact on family functioning. Parents get involved in conflicts with their child and/or accommodate to the eating disorder symptoms. Non-violent resistance (NVR) offers an additional treatment option for these families. NVR aims at helping parents effectively deal with their child's (self-)destructive behaviour and their own helplessness, by non-violent and non-escalating means. In our pilot, we examined whether NVR was helpful in reducing stress and improve parent–child interaction. In six parents, it was found that parenting stress was significantly reduced at post-assessment and at 3-month follow-up. For parent–child interaction, a non-significant trend was found for improvement. Change in body mass index of the adolescents was not associated with the decrease in parenting stress. Although preliminary, the results of this pilot suggest that NVR can be a feasible treatment alternative for families of adolescents with AN.