1199 – What do we know about the father of patients with anorexia nervosa or bulimia?

Abstract

Eating disorders (ED) are severe psychiatric disorders affecting mainly teenage girls and young women. There is evidence that family aspects play an important role in the etiology of ED and influence treatment outcome. Most researches in this field focus on mother, neglecting father figure. The emotional characteristics and life experiences of these men remain little studied. However, some authors have emphasized that father has an important role in emotional problems underlying ED. The objective of this study is to review the literature about life experiences, emotional, cognitive and behavioral characteristics of the father of patients with anorexia nervosa or bulimia. The strategy search used the keywords “Eating Disorders,” “Father-Child Relations” and “Fathers” in the databases PubMed, Lilacs, PsycInfo, Embase and Scopus. It included studies published between 2001 and 2011 in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Studies analyzing the father indirectly, without his own manifestation, were exclude, as well as theoretical studies and researches that considered obesity as a type of ED. It reached 18 articles and only 15 used qualitative method. All articles were read and analyzed. Depression, anxiety, obsessive traits, feelings of guilt and failure were frequently reported by subjects. In 2 studies, we observed parents dissatisfied with their bodies, desiring to be thinner or muscular, without presenting body image distortion. Hostility and authoritarianism in relation to the child were also observed. Rationalization and avoidance coping strategies were the most frequent. No study focused the father through his life experiences. Therefore, this field remains poorly explored by qualitative researchers.