The relationship between parental bonding and disordered eating patterns in a non-clinical adolescent population

The literature on the etiology of eating disorders looks at a variety of risk factors that may contribute to the development of anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorder. These factors include biological predisposition, psychological and developmental difficulties, socio-cultural issues and family dynamics. Family systems theorists place the focus on the interactional patterns of the entire family. They take the focus off the individual pathology and suggest that the role of the family system as a whole is important in the development and perpetuation of these disorders. This study looked at the relationship between parental bonding and disordered eating patterns. Subjects were 146 ninth through twelfth graders from a Westchester school district. The participants were drawn from a larger 6-year longitudinal study of adolescent development and depression conducted at Pace University. For this study the data collected in 1992 was used. The students were administered the Parental Bonding Instrument measuring the degree to which adolescents remembered their parents as caring or overprotective, and the Eating Disorder Inventory measuring eating disorder symptomatology It was hypothesized that subjects reporting minimal parental attachment will have more concerns regarding eating, weight and shape and will display more psychological traits which place them at risk for disordered eating behaviors than subjects reporting optimal parental attachment. The results of the study indicate that a relationship may exist between parental bonding and disordered eating patterns. A negative correlation between mother care and father care and the subscales on the EDI was noted for both male and female subjects. A positive correlation between mother overprotect and father overprotect and the EDI scales was also noted. These results were discussed in terms of limitations and implications for school/clinical psychology. Suggestions for future research were also provided