An Observational Study of Mothers with Eating Disorders and Their Infants

Abstract

Two groups of primiparous mothers and their infants were observed at home during play and at a mealtime when the infants were 12-24 months old. The index group consisted of mothers who had experienced an eating disorder during the postnatal year while the control group had been free from such psychopathology. The main findings were that, when compared to controls, the index mothers were more intrusive with their infants during both mealtimes and play; and that they expressed more negative emotion towards their infants during mealtimes but not during play. There were, however, no differences between the groups in their positive expressed emotion. The index infants' emotional tone was generally more negative and their mealtimes more conflictual compared to controls. Furthermore, the index infants tended to be lighter than controls and infant weight was found to be independently and inversely related to both the amount of conflict during mealtimes and the extent of the mother's concern about her own body shape.

Eating disorder symptoms and parenting styles

“…These two parenting styles have previously been shown to be less than optimal (Baumrind, 1971;Darling & Steinberg, 1993) and this study has now linked them to the presence of eating disorder symptoms. That eating disorder symptoms were positively related to parenting styles which are typically both more (authoritarian) and less (permissive) controlling is in accordance with the notion that eating disorder symptoms may manifest differently for individuals and supports literature which has found mothers with eating psychopathology to be both more controlling (Stein et al, 1994;Tiggemann & Lowes, 2002), but also to withdraw from stressful eating interactions with their children (Waugh & Bulik, 1999). These findings provide preliminary evidence to suggest that not only are eating interactions between mothers with symptoms of eating disorders and their children impaired (Stein et al, 1994;Tiggemann & Lowes, 2002;Waugh & Bulik, 1999), but that more general parenting might be related to the presence of eating disorder symptoms in non-clinical individuals.…”

“…These findings accord with the notion that the need for control is a central feature of eating pathology. Given that previous work has identified that mothers with eating psychopathology may engage in controlling interactions with their children (Stein et al, 1994;Stein et al, 2001), it is likely that this need for control may extend to their general parenting style, and that an authoritarian parenting style may be commonly seen in these women. However, some mothers with eating disorder symptoms may avoid conflict by withdrawing themselves from stressful eating interactions with their children (Waugh & Bulik, 1999 (Bryant-Waugh et al, 2007a;2007b).…”

“…Research has shown that mothers with eating disorder symptoms may implement greater control in their feeding interactions with their children, in both clinical groups (e.g., Stein, Woolley, Cooper & Fairburn, 1994) and non-clinical parent samples (e.g., Tiggemann & Lowes, 2002). Mothers with eating pathology have also been shown to withdraw from the feeding situation (Waugh & Bulik, 1999).…”

“…Less responsive parenting has been found to be associated with maternal eating disorder psychopathology (Lai & Tang, 2008;Stein, Woolley & McPherson, 1999). Mothers with eating disorders have been found to be more EATING DISORDERS AND PARENTING STYLES 4 intrusive and verbally controlling during both mealtime and play interactions with their infants (Stein et al, 1994;Stein et al, 2001). These findings accord with the notion that the need for control is a central feature of eating pathology.…”

Parenting concerns of women with histories of eating disorders

“…These children ate eagerly and gained weight rapidly when fed in the hospital, suggesting that their feeding problems were due to insufficient nutrition at home. Others have found that children of mothers with AN were undernourished 4 and weighed less than children of mothers without EDs, 15,16 even when there were no significant group differences in birth weights.…”