Individuals with Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) often exhibit food avoidance and restriction due to factors such as a lack of interest in food, sensory aversions, or fear of choking/vomiting (APA, 2013). Diagnosis of ARFID involves ruling out other medical or mental conditions, cultural factors, or food availability issues. The prevalence of ARFID mirrors that of anorexia, affecting 0.5-5.0% of children and adults in the general population, and 1.5-64.0% within clinical eating disorder populations. Despite the negative impact ARFID can have on an individual’s physical health and psychosocial well-being, specific guidance for its treatment is still limited. Current recommendations advocate for adapting interventions from other eating disorders.
This scoping review by Willmott et al. (2023) aims to explore existing psychological interventions for ARFID to inform future research comparing their efficacy and suitability for different demographics. The review was conducted following PRISMA and Joanna Briggs institute guidelines for scoping reviews and included studies that mentioned psychological interventions for ARFID, involved participants meeting ARFID criteria, and utilized psychometric measures. The results of the review identified various intervention types, including mixed interventions, behavioral interventions, cognitive behavioral interventions, and family interventions. The interventions showed improvements in ARFID symptoms, including increased food acceptance, changes in eating behaviors, and reduced anxiety and depression scores.
One key finding of the scoping review was the importance of family involvement in ARFID treatment across different intervention types. However, the review also highlighted the lack of standardized psychological measures for assessing ARFID improvement and the need for high-powered randomized controlled studies to rigorously test the efficacy of different interventions. Future research should focus on developing standardized measures for ARFID improvement, defining ‘ARFID recovery,’ and comparing interventions across different age groups, populations, and comorbidities.
In conclusion, while this scoping review provides valuable insights into current ARFID interventions, further research is needed to determine the most effective approaches for treating ARFID. Developing standardized measures and conducting high-quality studies will help improve the understanding and treatment of this disorder.
