Parenting styles and eating disorders

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyse the parental bonding profiles in patients with eating disorders (ED), as well as the relationship among the different styles of parenting and some psychological and psychopathological variables. In addition, the association between the perceived parental bonding and different coping strategies was analysed. Perception of parenting styles was analysed in a sample of 70 ED patients. The Parental Bonding Instrument, Self-Esteem Scale of Rosenberg, Coping Strategies Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory and Eating Disorders Inventory-2 were used. Kruskal-Wallis test (comparisons), Spearman correlation coefficients (association among different variables) and χ(2)-test (parental bonding profiles differences) were applied. The stereotyped style among ED patients is low care-high control during the first 16 years, and the same can be said about current styles of the mothers. Between 8.6% and 12.9% of the patients perceive their parents' styles as neglectful. The neglectful parenting is the style mainly involved in the specific ED symptoms as drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction and bulimia. In order to achieve a better balanced parents' role during the treatment, it would be necessary to improve the role of the mothers as caregivers, decreasing their role mainly based on the overprotection.

Risk and Maintenance Factors for Eating Disorders: An Exploration of Multivariate Models on Clinical and Non-Clinical Populations

“…Several studies have documented an association between a bonding behavior pattern characterized by low care and high protectiveness and eating symptomatology [130,131]. In line with previous empirical research [36], the model tested showed that poor parental care does not have a direct effect on ED risk, but it has a significant indirect effect through low self-esteem.…”

The Effect of Parental Warmth on Girls’ Drive for Thinness: Do Both Parents Matter?

“…While there is other research supporting the link between clinically diagnosed eating disorders and low parental warmth (e.g., Lobera, Rios, & Casals, 2011;Swanson et al, 2010), there is also a large amount of research that specifically examines the connections between parental warmth (or closely related measures) and poor body image and disordered eating. For instance, increases in disordered eating in over 5,000 adolescent girls was associated with low levels of parental caring (Neumark-Sztainer, Story, Hannan, Beuhring, & Resnick, 2000), which is often referred to as warmth.…”

“…Though the potential causes of these results are complex, they are undoubtedly of both scientific and practical significance for several reasons. Previously, the effect of parental warmth had only been studied with those who had developed disordered eating symptoms or clinically diagnosable eating disorders (e.g., Deas et al, 2011;Lobera et al, 2011;Mangweth et al, 2005;Neumark et al, 2000;Swanson et al, 2010), with the exception of a study by Haycraft and Blissett (2010), which did note that the relationship between authoritarian parents and the development of drive for thinness in girls was particularly strong. The current study establishes that there is indeed a relationship between warmth and drive for thinness, a known precursor to the development of disordered eating.…”

“…Nevertheless, the study also has several strengths. The vast majority of studies (e.g., Deas et al, 2011;Lobera et al, 2011;Mangweth et al, 2005;Neumark et al, 2000;Swanson et al, 2010) have examined parental warmth only in connection with disordered eating, not body image variables. By studying the precursors to disordered eating such as drive for thinness, this study illuminates the ways in which parents can help their daughters prevent the development of disordered eating, instead of waiting until the problem develops to address potential unhelpful family environments.…”

Desenvolvimento e avaliação dos efeitos de uma intervenção psicoterápica destinada a adolescentes com anorexia nervosa e a seus pais: coletânea de casos

“…A literatura aponta que entre os fatores de risco para o surgimento de AN na infância e adolescência estão os déficits de habilidades socioemocionais dos pais e estilos parentais inadequados (Canetti, Kanyas, Lerer, Latzer, & Bachar, 2008;Cella, Iannaccone & Cotrufo, 2013;Enten & Golan, 2009;Horesh, et al, 2015;Jauregui-Lobera, Bolanos-Rios, & Garrido-Casals, 2011;Tetley, Moghaddam, Dawson, & Rennoldson, 2014;Robinson, Strahan, Girz, Wilson, & Boachie, 2013).…”