Parental high concern and adolescent-onset anorexia nervosa

Shoebridge, Philip; Gowers, Simon

doi:10.1192/bjp.176.2.132

Cited by 97 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…A mother who has difficulty from differentiating herself from others (enmeshment) may be more likely to extrapolate her own unhealthy beliefs and practices to her daughter. The finding that enmeshment and abandonment beliefs are related to maternal reports of feeding problems supports previous literature in the fields of both eating psychopathology and feeding disorders (e.g., Hutcheson, Black, and Starr, 1993;Shoebridge & Gowers, 2000). In particular, enmeshment is frequently reported in families of children with eating disorders, where ''an overclose, overinvolved family that has high expectations of its children and which is unable to provide the impetus and support for individuation and separation during adolescence'' is often cited (Eisler, 1995, p. 155).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Maternal core beliefs and children's feeding problems

Blissett

Meyer

Farrow

et al. 2005

Int. J. Eat. Disord.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Maternal core beliefs and children's feeding problems

Blissett

Meyer

Farrow

et al. 2005

Int. J. Eat. Disord.

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“…This climate is best illustrated by the measures ‘nudity as a familial taboo’ and ‘sexuality not discussed in the family’, both of which were reported by the majority of eating-disordered patients. Although the literature describes dysfunctions, motherly overprotection, and conflict avoidance in families with eating disorder [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 18, 53, 54, 55], there are almost no studies looking at specific body-focused behaviors within the family.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood Body-Focused Behaviors and Social Behaviors as Risk Factors of Eating Disorders

Mangweth

Hausmann

Danzl

et al. 2005

Psychother Psychosom

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Background: The risk factors for adolescent eating disorders are poorly understood. It is generally agreed, however, that interactions with one’s body and interactions with others are two important features in the development of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Therefore, we assessed a variety of childhood body-focused behaviors and childhood social behaviors in eating-disordered patients as compared to non-eating-disordered subjects. Method: We compared 50 female inpatients with eating disorders (anorexia or bulimia nervosa), 50 female inpatients with polysubstance dependence, and 50 nonpatient female control subjects with no history of eating or substance abuse disorders (all defined by DSM-IV criteria), using a semi-structured interview of our own design. We asked questions about (1) childhood body-focused behaviors (e.g. thumb-sucking) and body-focused family experiences (e.g. bodily caresses), and (2) childhood social behaviors (e.g. numbers of close friends) and family social styles (e.g. authoritarian upbringing). Results: Many body-focused measures, such as feeding problems, auto-aggressive behavior, lack of maternal caresses, and family taboos regarding nudity and sexuality, characterized eating-disordered patients as opposed to both comparison groups, as did several social behaviors, such as adjustment problems at school and lack of close friends. However, nail-biting, insecure parental bonding, and childhood physical and sexual abuse were equally elevated in both psychiatric groups. Conclusion: It appears that eating-disordered patients, as compared to substance-dependent patients and healthy controls, show a distinct pattern of body-focused and social behaviors during childhood, characterized by self-harm, a rigid and ‘body-denying’ family climate, and lack of intimacy.

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“…Eating too little was significantly protective for developing bulimia nervosa (BN). In contrast to these, a case-control study comparing adolescent girls with AN and controls [4] and a small clinical study on women with BN [5] found low rates of childhood eating and feeding difficulties in the ED groups.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood Eating and Weight in Eating Disorders: A Multi-Centre European Study of Affected Women and Their Unaffected Sisters

Micali¹,

Holliday²,

Karwautz³

et al. 2007

Psychother Psychosom

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Background: Previous studies have suggested that childhood eating and weight problems may be risk factors for eating disorders. Robust evidence is still lacking. Aims: To investigate whether childhood eating and weight problems increase the risk of eating disorders in affected women compared to their unaffected sisters. Methods: Women (150) with anorexia (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN) recruited from clinical and community samples were compared to their unaffected sister closest in age on maternal reports of childhood eating and weight. Results: Women with BN were significantly more overweight at the ages of 5 and 10 (both OR = 2.8, p < 0.01), ate a lot (OR = 1.3, p < 0.01), were less picky (OR = 0.6, p < 0.05) and ate quickly (OR = 2.3, p < 0.05) between the ages of 6 and 10 compared to their healthy sisters. Significantly more women with AN were described as having a higher weight at 6 months (OR = 0.8, p < 0.01) and 1 year (OR = 0.6, p < 0.01) compared to their healthy sisters. Childhood eating was comparable in the women with AN and their unaffected sisters. Conclusions: Traits of childhood overeating were more common in bulimic women compared to their unaffected siblings. Subjects with AN did not differ from their sisters on eating variables. The increased risk of BN due to childhood overweight suggests that prevention strategies for childhood obesity and overweight may therefore be applicable in BN.

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Parental high concern and adolescent-onset anorexia nervosa

Abstract: This study lends evidence to the clinical contention that high-concern parenting in infancy is associated with the later development of anorexia nervosa. This may derive, in part, from aspects of unresolved grief.

Cited by 97 publications

References 15 publications

Maternal core beliefs and children's feeding problems

Maternal core beliefs and children's feeding problems

Childhood Body-Focused Behaviors and Social Behaviors as Risk Factors of Eating Disorders

Childhood Eating and Weight in Eating Disorders: A Multi-Centre European Study of Affected Women and Their Unaffected Sisters

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