Food choices coping strategies of eating disorder patients´ parents: what happens when both mother and father work? (original) (raw)
Related papers
Revista Mexicana de Trastornos Alimentarios, 2018
The purpose of this study was to identify and comprehend the family aspects associated to the development of an eating disorder (ED), from the point of view of parents with daughters diagnosed with an ED and women diagnosed with an ED. It is a qualitative study where a semi structured interview was used that gathered information about familial support, emotional expression, familial cohesion, problem solving, stressful life events and life cycle transitions, criticism about eating, body shape and weight. The sample comprised nine participants: five parents with daughters diagnosed with an ED, and four women with an ED. A content analysis derived two categories: Difficulties in rearing practices, and Parent's negative attitudes towards daughters eating, shape and weight. Parents showed difficulty with rearing practices during their daughter's childhood and adolescence that hindered the identification of the beginning of the ED. Parents also demonstrated affect by expressing approbation words when their daughters were slim and skipped this same expression for those who weren't. Both aspects were related to the development of an ED. In conclusion, it is highlighted the importance of considering familial aspects in the prevention of ED.
The assessment of the family of people with eating disorders
European Eating Disorders Review, 2008
NICE) guidelines for eating disorders recommend that carers should be provided with information and support and that their needs should be considered if relevant. The aim of this paper is to describe how to structure an assessment of carers needs so that the family factors that can contribute to the maintenance of eating disorder symptoms are examined. We describe in detail the pattern of interpersonal reactions that can result when a family member has an eating disorder. Shared traits such as anxiety, compulsivity and abnormal eating behaviours contribute to some of the misperceptions, misunderstandings and confusion about the meaning of the eating disorder for family members. Unhelpful attributions can fuel a variety of emotional reactions (criticism, hostility, overprotection, guilt and shame). Gradually these forces cause family members to accommodate to the illness or be drawn in to enable some of the core symptoms.
How do relatives cope with eating disorders? Results from an Italian multicentre study
International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2016
Objective: This paper aims to: (1) describe coping strategies in relatives of patients with eating disorders (EDs); (2) analyze coping strategies according to the different EDs; (3) identify correlations between patients' clinical characteristics, relatives' socio-demographic characteristics and coping strategies. Methods: Patients and their relatives consecutively attending three outpatient units for EDs at the Universities of Naples SUN, Salerno and Catanzaro were recruited. Coping strategies were assessed through the Family Coping Questionnaire for Eating Disorders (FCQ-ED). It consists of 32 items, grouped into two factors: problem-oriented ("seek for information", "positive communication") and emotionfocused ("avoidance," "collusion," "coercion") strategies, plus one item on seeking for spiritual help.
Family Functioning and Family Stage Associated with Patterns of Disordered Eating in Adult Females
This study investigated family functioning, family stage and eating disorder risk. A sample of 140 females (aged 18-59) completed a family functioning questionnaire (ICPS) and the Eating Disorder Risk scale (EDI-3). Consistent with previous research, cluster analysis identified two profiles of family functioning: an authoritative style (high intimacy and high democratic parenting, with low conflict) and an authoritarian cluster (elevated conflict scores and significantly lower intimacy and democratic parenting). The second independent variable of family stage comprised two groups: females living in their family of origin and those living in their family of choice. The ANOVA showed no interaction involving family functioning cluster and family stage. A main effect showed that participants in the authoritarian cluster experienced significantly more drive for thinness, bulimic symptoms, body dissatisfaction and eating disorder risk. There was no difference in eating disorder risk between females living at home or those in the family of choice. The findings have implications for therapists in demonstrating that independence from the family of origin does not prompt natural recovery from eating disorder tendencies. The findings provide some further evidence of the association between specific elements of family functioning (intimacy, conflict and democratic parenting) with eating disorder risk.
Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships
Eating disorders and obesity in children and adolescents have been calling researchers and public health institutions’ attention due to severity and increasing incidence in the last decades. Studies on etiological factors of diseases related to alimentation are important to justify more efficient treatment methodologies. The family participation has been suggested by authors of systems theory, motivating us to study this issue from the point of view of individual, family and socio-cultural. This paper aims to present research data to construct a psychosocial attendance methodology to children and adolescents with eating disorders and obesity and their families. The method used is qualitative and includes a family life cycle interview, Multifamily Group, children and adolescents groups and the use of Rorschach test in adolescents. Partial data show that parents’ life history has influence on eating pattern of family; the genitors don’t comprehend the obesity as a multi-factorial synd...
Family profiles in eating disorders: family functioning and psychopathology
Abstract: Research has studied family functioning in families of patients suffering from eating disorders (EDs), particularly investigating the associations between mothers’ and daughters’ psychopathological symptoms, but limited studies have examined whether there are speci c maladaptive psychological pro les characterizing the family as a whole when it includes ado- lescents with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED). Through the collaboration of a network of public and private consultants, we recruited n=181 adolescents diagnosed for EDs (n=61 with AN, n=60 with BN, and n=60 with BEDs) and their parents. Mothers, fathers, and youths were assessed through a self-report measure evaluating family functioning, and adolescents completed a self-report questionnaire assessing psycho- pathological symptoms. Results showed speci c family functioning and psychopathological pro les based on adolescents’ diagnosis. Regression analyses also showed that family functioning characterized by rigidity predicted higher psychopathological symptoms. Our study underlines the importance of involving all members of the family in assessment and intervention programs when adolescent offspring suffer from EDs.
Traditionally, the key features of the family system of Eating Disorders (EDs) have been considered those originally outlined by Minuchin in his description of the “psychosomatic” family patterns of interaction. This controlled study tests two of the principal characteristics of Minuchin’s model, namely enmeshment and rigidity, operationalised as extreme cohesion and low adaptability. Perceived and desired cohesion and adaptability, measured with the FACES III, were compared between 30 clinical families (mothers, fathers and daughters with an ED) and 30 non-clinical families. Differences across ED family members were also considered, as well as differences between ED symptomatological subgroups (restricting anorectics vs EDs with bulimic symptoms). High cohesion scores were found in ED families, but similar fi ndings were also reported in control families. Cohesion scores were signifi cantly higher in restricting anorectics than in patients with bulimic symptoms. Adaptability was normal in both ED and control families. This study does not support Minuchin’s observations on family enmeshment and rigidity. Although high levels of cohesion were found in ED families, the same relational pattern was found in the control families, suggesting that a tendency to a hyper-involvement of family members might be “normal” in some sociocultural contexts.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2002
Objective: To investigate parent and self-report of family dysfunction in children and adolescents with eating disorders. Further, to investigate family functioning differences across the eating disorders diagnostic groups; anorexia nervosa, eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) and bulimia nervosa, and between the restricting and binge-purge eating disorders behavioural subtypes. Methods: The Family Adjustment Device General Functioning Scale (FAD-GFS) was administered to 100 children and their parents who presented consecutively at an eating disorders assessment clinic. DSM-IV eating disorders diagnoses in this group included 42 children diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, 26 with EDNOS, 12 with bulimia nervosa and 20 diagnosed as having no eating disorder. Results: Both the parent and child FAD-GFS report demonstrated high internal consistency supporting the suitability of this instrument for research with this sample. Parent and child reports were moderately positively correlated. Total scores for all eating disorders diagnostic categories were significantly higher than community norms. Anorexia nervosa, EDNOS and bulimia nervosa groups did not significantly differ on parent or child reports. FAD-GFS profiles for restricters and binge-purgers suggest higher levels of family dysfunction in the families of binge purgers. Conclusions: The FAD-GFS has suitable psychometric properties for use as a summary instrument with young people diagnosed with an eating disorder. However, more informative instruments assaying a greater range of constructs, especially in the impulsive, dyscontrol domain, are required to investigate differences among eating disorders diagnostic groups and behavioural subtypes. Research has increased our understanding of the clinical epidemiology of eating disorders including their prevalence in adolescents [1] and the longitudinal course of such disorders [2]. There has also been recent evidence of decreasing mortality among sufferers [3], although standardized mortality rates remain unacceptably high [4]. Research into the aetiology of eating disorders has emphasized multifactorial causation with family functioning playing an important role [5,6]. Family therapists emphasize dynamic issues including family enmeshment [7] and difficulty in separating from the parent [8] and hypothesize that the patient's symptoms are expressions of underlying, largely unspoken family conflict. Family factors may also maintain the illness through inconsistent