How adolescents with anorexia nervosa and their parents perceive family functioning?

Abstract

This study aims at examining whether adolescent girls diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and their parents differ in perceiving the different aspects of family functioning. Moreover, the discrepancy between adolescent girls and healthy controls on Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales dimensions, family communication, and family satisfaction is investigated. The study includes 36 female anorexia patients and their parents and 36 healthy controls. The results showed a different view between mothers and their daughters with regard to the dimension of rigidity. In addition, girls with anorexia nervosa were less satisfied about family environment and rated their families as less communicative, flexible, cohesive, and more disengaged, compared to controls.

Family Functioning and Relationship Quality for Adolescents in Family‐based Treatment with Severe Anorexia Nervosa Compared with Non‐clinical Adolescents

“…While impairment levels in most domains were relatively low in the AN group, the level of agreement between family member perceptions was similar to previous studies, with adolescents reporting greater levels of perceived impairment than parents, confirming the study's third aim (Ciao et al, ; Emanuelli et al, ; Laghi et al, ; North & Gowers, ). However, given that similar differences occurred in the NC group in this study, and other previous research (Emanuelli et al, ), this possibly identifies a common developmental process where rules and responsibilities are under renegotiation (Dubois‐Comtois, Cyr, Pascuzzo, Lessard, & Poulin, ) and thus may not be specific to AN.…”

“…Anorexia nervosa (AN) commonly develops in adolescence, impacting not only the young person's physical and psychological well‐being but also the family and psychosocial development during a transformational life cycle period (Ruuska, Koivisto, Rantanen, & Kaltiala‐Heino, ; Steiner et al, ; Striegel‐Moore, Seeley, & Lewinsohn, ; Wentz, Gillberg, Anckarsater, Gillberg, & Rastam, ; Whitney & Eisler, ). Research of adolescents with AN has generally found higher impairment in family relationships and functioning compared with non‐clinical populations (Emanuelli et al, ; Laghi et al, ; McDermott, Batik, Roberts, & Gibbon, ; Nilsson, Engstrom, & Hagglof, ). Specific areas of impairment commonly reported by parents or adolescents in AN studies include difficulty maintaining family rules and clear roles, emotional over‐involvement, communication difficulties, lower levels of cohesion and dissatisfaction with family life (Ciao, Accurso, Fitzsimmons‐Craft, Lock, & Le Grange, ; Cook‐Darzens, Doyen, Falissard, & Mouren, ; Emanuelli et al, ; Vidovic, Juresa, Begovac, Mahnik, & Tocilj, ).…”

Attachment in eating-disordered outpatients with and without borderline personality disorder

“…Moreover, recent studies underline a moderate role of the gender in adolescents with AN, as well as negative perceptions of their family functioning and good performances in mindreading tasks, while bulimic patients revealed an impairment in their theory of mind (Laghi et al, 2014b(Laghi et al, , 2015a(Laghi et al, , 2015b.…”

The Role of Family Relationships in Eating Disorders in Adolescents: A Narrative Review

“…In particular, families with strict family rules that hinder or restrict the expression of thoughts, feelings, and self (prohibition to configure and talk about situations that can cause discomfort) are exposed to a risk for the development of eating disorders, especially in cases where restrictive rules concern food [73]. Also, a critical attitude and family pressures regarding the body and physical form constitute indices of involvement and family rigidity, which strongly affect the development of the disease, facilitating the assumption of inadequate eating habits [97][98][99]. Also, weight concerns and stereotypes of female beauty portrayed in the media and the uptake of diets predict an increased risk of developing a binge eating disorder in the adolescent and pre-adolescent girls [100].…”