A review of the father-child relationship in the development and maintenance of adolescent anorexia and bulimia nervosa

There are disproportionately fewer studies examining the role of the father in the development of child and adolescent psychopathology. This is pertinent in the field of eating disorders, where there is a wealth of research related to family influences and the value of family-based interventions. Th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Issues in comprehensive pediatric nursing 2013-01, Vol.36 (1-2), p.48-69
Main Authors: Gale, Christopher J., Cluett, Elizabeth R., Laver-Bradbury, Cathy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescents
anorexia
Anorexia - psychology
Anorexia nervosa
bulimia
Bulimia Nervosa - psychology
Child
Children
Father
Father-Child Relations
Father-Child relationships
Fathers
Female
Humans
Male
Nursing
Psychopathology
Young Adult
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Summary:There are disproportionately fewer studies examining the role of the father in the development of child and adolescent psychopathology. This is pertinent in the field of eating disorders, where there is a wealth of research related to family influences and the value of family-based interventions. This article reviews the key themes within the literature around the potential impact of the father-child relationship on the development and maintenance of Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa in young people. The critical review searched relevant health and social care databases, as well as manually searching key journals in the eating disorder field. In these results, 13 studies met the inclusion/exclusion criteria and were critiqued, with 8 being taken forward for discussion. The 8 studies identified key themes within the relationship of the father and child (particularly daughters) around conflict and communication, parental protection and psychological control, emotional regulation and self-esteem, and self-perfectionism. All of these factors appear to influence the child's level of self-determining autonomy, which in turn can impact maladaptive eating attitudes and psychopathology. Tentative recommendations are made around working with fathers to encourage free expression of ideas and foster a sense of autonomy through compromise and collaboration with their adolescent child. Further research around these themes in relation to other family members is also suggested.
ISSN:0146-0862
1521-043X
DOI:10.3109/01460862.2013.779764