title: The relationship between dysfunctional family patterns and symptom severity among adolescent patients with eating disorders: A gender-specific approach.
abstract: The objective of the authors in this study was to identify factors related to dysfunctional family functioning that may be associated with the severity of symptoms among adolescent patients with an eating disorder (ED) at first-contact care. A total of forty-eight mothers and forty-five fathers of fifty patients with EDs were recruited from an ED unit in Madrid, Spain, between October 2011 and July 2012. Parents completed self-report assessments related to family functioning and psychological wellbeing. Patients went through clinical interviews and completed a self-report questionnaire assessing symptom severity. Compared to fathers, mothers showed higher levels of anxiety and emotional over-involvement and perceived to a greater degree the positive and negative aspects of their experience as caregivers. Regarding the relationship between family functioning and symptom severity, mothers' perceptions of their family relationships as enmeshed and less adaptive, along with anxiety, accounted for 39% of variance in the severity of ED symptoms. Anxiety and symptom accommodation by the fathers accounted for 27% of variance in the symptom severity. Interventions that help parents to cope with their caregiving role should target behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects of their functioning and be gender-specific, to improve the outcome of ED in patients.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological and Health Psychology , Autonomous University of Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Dimitra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Anastasiadou
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological and Health Psychology , Autonomous University of Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Ana R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Sepulveda
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological and Health Psychology , Autonomous University of Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parks
authors.affiliation: b Research Group EPSY , Complutense University of Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cuellar-Flores
authors.affiliation: c Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology , Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Graell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005195:Family Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Caregiving experience; eating disorders; family functioning; gender