Affectionless control: A parenting style associated with obesity and binge eating disorder in adulthood

Abstract

Objective: Obesity is rising globally with a heavy health and economic burden. Early attachment experiences are relevant to the development of obesity. The purpose of this study was to investigate if parental care and attachment style experienced in childhood is associated with obesity, with or without binge eating disorder (BED), in adulthood. Method: Parental style, personality traits, and psychopathology were assessed in 810 clinically referred adults with obesity, of whom 357 with BED and 453 without BED (non-BED), and 463 healthy subjects (HS). Assessments included the Parental Bonding Instrument, Temperament and Character Inventory, Eating Disorder Inventory-2, Symptom Checklist-90 and Beck Depression Inventory-II. Results: Both BED and non-BED reported lower maternal and paternal care and higher overprotection than HS. BED reported worse levels of parental care than non-BED and HS. 'Affectionless control' parenting style was more frequently reported by both BED and non-BED than HS. No significant differences in parenting style emerged between BED and non-BED. Conclusions: Perception of parental 'affectionless control' was associated with obesity in adults, and lower quality of parental care was more frequently reported by participants with BED. Parental style may constitute an important target for early interventions to prevent obesity.

A Cross-Sectional Study: Structural and Related Functional Connectivity Changes in the Brain: Stigmata of Adverse Parenting in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder?

“…The most representative is overprotectiveness. High overprotectiveness is believed to be a component of affectionless control in western populations, where people attach great importance to individuality and privacy [ 55 , 56 , 57 ]. In Eastern cultures, people tend to foster collectivism, regard the family as a single unit, and think highly of the maintenance of emotional bonds between family members [ 58 , 59 ].…”

A literature review of evidence for primary prevention of overweight and obesity in healthy weight children and adolescents: A report produced by a working group of the Danish Council on Health and Disease Prevention

“…In a large multinational study, randomizing infants to formula with a high or lower protein intake, 36 those who received the high protein intake had a higher BMI and higher risk of obesity at age 6 years 36 . Parental interaction with the child during meals (feeding style) and the general parental care and contact with the child (parenting style) may also play significant roles for the risk of later obesity 37,38 . In addition, longer sleep duration seems associated with better body composition and better growth in 0‐ to 4‐year‐old children 39 .…”

Çocuklardaki̇ Gi̇zli̇ Tehli̇ke: Tikanircasina Yeme Bozukluğu

“…Sosyokültürel faktörlerle birlikte, aile çevresi, ebeveyn-çocuk etkileşimleri yeme bozukluklarının gelişiminde büyük öneme sahiptir. Basile ve arkadaşlarının çalışmasında bireylerin çocuklukta karşılanmayan duygusal, korunma, güvenme ve bakım ihtiyaçlarının yeme bozuklukları gelişiminde rolü olabileceği gösteril-miştir (Amianto et al, 2021;Basile et al, 2021). Yeme bozukluğu olan hastalar genellikle annelerinin aşırı koruyucu, babayla ilişkilerinin ise ya çok zayıf ya da olmadığı görülmektedir (Tetley et al, 2014).…”