Adapting Exposure for Adolescent AN
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
- Where
- Hershey, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 16 people, planned
- Started
- 20 Feb 2026
- Expected to end
- 30 Jun 2027
- Type of study
- Interventional
- Treatments tested
- Exposure Therapy for Anorexia (Exp-AN)
- Record updated
- 20 October 2026
Who can take part
- Age
- 12 years to 17 years
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 12 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Has a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa (AN)
- English speaking
- Mentally stable for an outpatient level of care
- Living with at least one parent/caregiver
- Experienced significant weight loss as determined by the local principal investigator at each enrolling local site
Who cannot take part
- Has a diagnosis of bulimia nervosa or binge-eating disorder
- Meets DSM-5 criteria for a psychotic disorder and/or has an intellectual disability
- Younger than 12 years old or older than 17 years old
- Has a current psychotherapist and not open to pausing treatment for the duration of the study
- Acutely suicidal
- Pregnant
- Non-English speaking
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 12 and 17 years old?
Where in United States
- Penn State College of MedicineHershey, United StatesContact: Jamal H Essayli, PhDTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
This pilot study is evaluating Exposure Therapy (Exp-AN) as a virtual treatment for adolescents (ages 14 - 17 years) with anorexia nervosa (AN) recruited from eating disorder clinic waitlists and clinician referrals at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) (8 participants per site). Adolescents who agree to take part in this study will receive 20 free virtual 40-60 minute weekly Exp-AN sessions at an outpatient level of care. Exp-AN for adolescents will combine individual virtual session time (35-50 min) with parent involvement (10-25 min). Parents will serve as "collaborators," supporting skill development, exposure completion, and treatment goal achievement. Exp-AN sessions will focus on helping participants overcome anxiety about weight gain by encouraging them to do challenging things that increase anxiety in the short term but help them better tolerate anxiety over the long term. Participants will be asked to complete a clinical interview, questionnaires, and labs and vitals testing before they begin the study. Adolescents will also complete questionnaires and participate in 15-min semi-structured interviews, while parents/caregivers will complete separate parallel interviews, at: mid-treatment, end-of-treatment, and 3-month follow-up. To ensure that all participants are receiving the same type of therapy, they will not be able to have any concurrent psychotherapy while receiving this treatment (other forms of care including dieticians, nutritionists, and psychiatrists are allowed).
Read full original descriptionShow less
Exp-AN is designed to target anxiety about weight gain. Exp-AN includes education about the effects of undereating; the importance of overcoming anxiety about weight gain; in-session weight exposures (e.g., stepping on a scale while reading a script describing fears about weight gain); creating a meal plan to help improve eating; reviewing eating behaviors over the past week; conducting in-session and between-session exposures that help participants face fears related to weight gain; and relapse prevention.
The group in the trial
- Exposure Therapy for AN (Exp-AN)Treatment being tested
Exp-AN aims to target anxiety about weight gain by helping participants identify their specific feared consequences of weight gain (e.g., "I will permanently hate myself if I gain weight"), and combining in vivo (i.e., in real life) and imaginal (i.e., mental) exposure exercises to address these fears. Exp-AN consists of four core modules: (1) Treatment Rationale and Psychoeducation; (2) In-Session Weight Exposure; (3) Planning, Conducting, and Reviewing Exposures; and (4) Relapse Prevention.
Treatment: Exposure Therapy for Anorexia (Exp-AN)
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Adapting Exposure Therapy to Target Anxiety About Weight Gain in Adolescents With Anorexia Nervosa
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT07188155, who can take part
- Record updated
- 20 October 2026