Interventions to Empower Adults with Eating Disorders and Their Partners around the Transition to Parenthood

• Published in: Family process 2020-12, Vol.59 (4), p.1407-1422
• Main Authors: Sadeh‐Sharvit, Shiri, Sacks, Madeline R., Runfola, Cristin D., Bulik, Cynthia M., Lock, James D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adults; Anorexia; Children; Couples; Eating Disorders; Efficacy; Evidence-based practice; Family counseling; Family system perspective; Intervention; Life events; Life transitions; Marriage and Family Counseling; Parejas; Parental functioning; Parents & parenting; Parent‐Based Prevention; Perinatal period; Postpartum period; Prenatal care; prevención basada en los padres; Prevention; terapia matrimonial y familiar; transición a la paternidad; Transition to Parenthood; trastornos alimentarios; 基于父母的防治措施; 夫妻; 婚姻和家庭心理咨询; 过渡为父母身份; 饮食失调
• ISSN: 0014-7370; 1545-5300
• DOI: 10.1111/famp.12510

The transition to parenthood is perceived as a stressful life event, when parents experience an immense change of their psychological focus and a reorientation of roles and responsibilities in the family system. This process may be even more challenging in the presence of a parental eating disorder history. This paper reviews the impact of parental eating disorders on the parents, the couple relationship, and their child during the perinatal period. A parental eating disorder is associated with more negative expectations of parental efficacy as well as specific difficulties in couple communication over the child’s feeding, shape, and weight. Providers who better understand the effects of an eating disorder on parental functioning can more effectively intervene early on. We also present couple‐ or parent‐based, empirically supported interventions for adults with eating disorders and their partners in the prenatal and postnatal periods: Uniting Couples in the treatment of Anorexia Nervosa (UCAN) and Uniting couples In the Treatment of Eating disorders (UNITE) both enhance recovery from the eating disorder through a couple‐based intervention; the Maudsley Model of Treatment for Adults with Anorexia Nervosa (MANTRA) incorporates the support of partners, when appropriate; Parent‐Based Prevention (PBP) focuses on improving parental functioning and reducing risk of negative parental and child outcomes. Finally, we discuss the clinical implications of addressing parental eating disorders and encourage more research on these families. La transición a la paternidad se percibe como una situación estresante de la vida, cuando los padres sufren un cambio inmenso en su foco de atención psicológico y una reorientación de los roles y las responsabilidades en el sistema familiar. Este proceso puede ser aun más difícil en presencia de antecedentes de trastornos alimentarios en los padres. Este artículo analiza el efecto de los trastornos alimentarios parentales en los padres, la relación de pareja y su hijo durante el periodo perinatal. Un trastorno alimentario parental está asociado con expectativas más negativas de la eficacia parental así como con dificultades específicas en la comunicación entre la pareja sobre la alimentación, la figura y el peso del niño. Los profesionales que mejor comprendan los efectos de un trastorno alimentario en el funcionamiento parental pueden intervenir más eficazmente en etapas tempranas. También presentamos intervenciones respaldadas empír