Nourriture et relations familiales chez des adolescents avec et sans anorexie mentale : une étude qualitative par Photo-elicitation

The Role of Food in the Family Relationships of Adolescents With Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia in Northeastern Brazil: A Qualitative Study Using Photo Elicitation

“…The lack of family identity through food brought experiences of sadness, mainly for parents and grandmothers, and anger for adolescent girls in the act of eating together. It contrasted with previous studies indicating that there was conflict avoidance in families with a member presenting anorexia nervosa (11,29,30,55). Both adolescent girls and their parents recognize their conflicts, but it seemed they did not know how to manage them.…”

“…In this study, eating behavior seemed to be underpinned by two paradoxical and simultaneous drives for the adolescents: trying both to control others and resisting other's control over them. It implies in a fight for autonomy and regulation of dependence toward parents, which is also found in previous studies with other groups of our research team, such as in adolescents with obesity (27,28) and the study about the role of food in families with eating disorders or not (29). This struggle is marked by a loss of control by these teens and their parents.…”

“…This research included a convenience sample of eight girls aged 12-18 years with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. We interviewed these adolescents, their parents (N = 12), and, unlike in our previous work (27)(28)(29)(30), their grandmothers (N = 05) and one sister. This decision was based on specific aspects of Brazilian culture: the closeness of extended and nuclear families, linked by concepts of loyalty and responsibilities (38).…”

“…This issue was the starting point of a research project conducted by our team: to study the interrelations between eating disorders and family relationships in adolescence in different cultural contexts. Several studies have been carried out in normal and pathological contexts both in France and Brazil (27)(28)(29)(30)(31), using photo elicitation, a visual narrative method which consists of using one or several photographs taken by the subject as the basis of the interview (32).…”

The role of food in family relationships amongst adolescents with bulimia nervosa: A qualitative study using photo-elicitation

“…Those studies aimed to use qualitative research methods (in particular, photo-elicitation) to better comprehend adolescent mental health, and have already examined the question of the role of food in family relationships in several adolescent populations: namely sufferers of obesity, AN, and teenagers without eating disorders. In all three studies, food was found to be a means to regulate proximity and distance to relatives [21,[24][25][26]. In the AN study, this resulted in failure to gain autonomy; in teenagers without eating disorders, food also played a part in relations to people in other social circles (not limited to the family), thus playing a role in the construction of teenage identity [25].…”