title: A six-year prospective study on children of mothers with eating disorders: the role of paternal psychological profiles.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several studies have suggested that maternal eating disorders (EDs) represent a significant risk factor for children's affective and behavioral development. Yet, little emphasis has been placed on the paternal role.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present longitudinal study aimed to clarify the role of maternal EDs and the influence of paternal psychological profiles on children's emotional development.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our sample was composed of N = 64 families with firstborn children selected through preschools, primary schools, and outpatient clinics in central Italy. Parents and children participated in a 6-year longitudinal protocol that included a diagnostic interview conducted by clinicians (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders [SCID-I]), a self-report (Symptom Checklist-90-Revised [SCL-90-R]), and a parental report-form questionnaire (Child Behavior Checklist [CBCL]).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The influence of mothers' EDs on their children's emotional development was confirmed. Moreover, fathers' anxiety and obsessive-compulsive problems in association with mothers' EDs and depressive symptoms influenced the onset of both internalizing and externalizing difficulties in their children over time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that fathers' psychopathological risk affects the development of emotional problems in children with mothers who have EDs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome. silcimin@tin.it
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cimino
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cerniglia
authors.forename: Marinella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paciello
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sinesi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011446:Prospective Studies