Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T22:21:28.281Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of parental eating disorder on children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

H. Woolley ,
R. Wheatcroft  and
A. Stein
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

It is now well established that children of parents who have psychiatric disorders are at risk of developing disturbances themselves (Rutter, 1989; Garmezy & Masten, 1994). Of particular concern is that these disturbances may persist well after remission of the parental disorder. Eating disorders occur commonly among women of child-bearing age (Szmukler, 1985; Fairburn & Beglin, 1990) and the prevalence seems to be rising (Treasure et al, 1996). Estimates indicate that at least 2% of women aged 16–40 suffer from bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa, and up to 4% when other eating disorders are considered (Fairburn & Beglin, 1990; Hoek, 1993). It is therefore surprising that the potential implications for their offspring have received so little attention until recently. Knowledge of whether these children are at risk and the mechanisms underlying any transmission of disturbance is important so that appropriate treatment can be instituted and preventive strategies put in place.

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Psychiatric Treatment , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , May 1998 , pp. 144 - 150
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 1998 

References

Attie, I. & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1989) Development of eating problems in adolescent girls: a longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 25, 70–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berg, B. & Hodes, M. (1997) Adult psychiatrists' knowledge of children whose mothers have eating disorders. European Eating Disorders Review, 5, 25–32.Google Scholar
Brinch, M., Isager, T. & Tolstrup, K. (1988) Anorexia nervosa and motherhood: reproduction pattern and mothering behaviour of 50 women. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 77, 611–617.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bryant-Waugh, R. & Kaminski, Z. (1993) Eating disorders in children. In Childhood Onset Anorexia and Related Eating Disorders (eds Lask, B. & Bryant-Waugh, R.) pp. 17–29. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bryant-Waugh, R. & Lask, B. (1995) Annotation: eating disorders in children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36, 191–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chatoor, I., Egan, J., Getson, P. et al (1988) Mother-infant interactions in infantile anorexia nervosa. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 535–540.Google Scholar
Chess, S. & Hassibi, M. (1986) Principles and Practice of Child Psychiatry (2nd edn), p. 221. New York: Plenum.Google Scholar
Evans, N., Gilpin, E., Farkas, A.J. et al (1995) Adolescents' perceptions of their peers' health norms. American Journal of Public Health, 85, 1064–1069.Google Scholar
Fahy, T. & Treasure, T. (1989) Children of mothers with bulimia nervosa. British Medical Journal, 299, 1031.Google Scholar
Fairburn, C. G. & Beglin, S. (1990) Studies of the epidemiology of bulimia nervosa. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 401–408.Google Scholar
Fairburn, C. G., Jones, R. & Stein, A. (1993) Eating habits and attitudes during pregnancy. Psychosomatic Medicine, 54, 665–672.Google Scholar
Garmezy, N. & Masten, A. (1994) Chronic adversities. In Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (eds Rutter, M. & Hersov, L.) pp. 191–208. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Higgs, J., Goodyer, I. & Birch, J. (1989) Anorexia nervosa and food avoidance emotional disorder. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 64, 346–351.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hill, A. J., Weaver, C. & Blundell, J. E. (1990) Dieting concerns of 10 year old girls and their mothers. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 29, 346–348.Google Scholar
Hodes, M., Timimi, S. & Robinson, P. (1997) Children of mothers with eating disorders: a preliminary study. European Eating Disorders Review, 5, 11–24.Google Scholar
Hoek, H. W. (1993). Review of the epidemiological studies of eating disorders. International Review of Psychiatry, 15, 346–348.Google Scholar
Holland, A. J., Hall, A., Murray, R. et al (1984) Anorexia nervosa: a study of 34 twin pairs and one set of triplets. British Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 414–419.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Humphrey, L. L. (1989) Observed family interactions among subtypes of eating disorders using structural analysis of social behaviour. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 206–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalucy, R. S., Crisp, A. H. & Harding, B. (1977) A study of 56 families with anorexia nervosa. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 50, 381–395.Google Scholar
Katz, R. L., Mazer, C. & Litt, I. F. (1985) Anorexia nervosa by proxy. Journal of Pediatrics, 107, 247–248.Google Scholar
Kendler, K. S., MacLean, C., Neale, M. et al (1991) The genetic epidemiology of bulimia nervosa. American Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 1627–1637.Google ScholarPubMed
Klesges, R.C., Coates, T., Brown, G. et al (1983) Parental influences on children's eating behavior and relative weight. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 16, 371–378.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lacey, J. H. & Smith, G. (1987) Bulimia nervosa: the impact of pregnancy on mother and baby. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 777–781.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pike, K. M. & Rodin, J. (1991) Mothers, daughters, and disordered eating. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 198–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. (1989) Psychiatric disorder in parents as a risk factor for children. In Prevention of Mental Disorder, Alcohol and Other Drug Use in Children and Adolescents (eds Schaffer, D., Phillips, I. & Enger, N. B.) pp. 157–189. Rockville, MD: Office for Substance Abuse.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. & Quinton, D. (1984) Parental psychiatric disorder: effects on children. Psychological Medicine, 14, 853–880.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stein, A. & Fairburn, C. G. (1989) Children of mothers with bulimia nervosa. British Medical Journal, 299, 777–778.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stein, A., Woolley, H., Cooper, S. D. et al (1994) An observational study of mothers with eating disorders and their infants. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 733–748.Google Scholar
Stein, A., Stein, J., Walters, E.A. et al (1995) Eating habits and attitudes among mothers of children with feeding disorders. British Medical Journal, 310, 228.Google Scholar
Stein, A. & Fairburn, C. G. (1986) Eating habits and attitudes to body shape and weight during the postnatal period. Psychosomatic Medicine, 58, 321–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, A., Murray, L., Cooper, P. et al (1996) Infant growth in the context of maternal eating disorders and maternal depression: a comparative study. Psychological Medicine, 26, 569–574.Google Scholar
Szmukler, G. (1985) The epidemiology of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 19, 143–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Timimi, S. & Robinson, P. (1996) Disturbances in children of patients with eating disorders. European Eating Disorder Review, 4, 183–188.Google Scholar
Treasure, J. L., Troop, N. A. & Ward, A. (1996) An approach to planning services for bulimia nervosa. British Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 551–554.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Wezel-Meijler, G. & Wit, J. M. (1989) The offspring of mothers with anorexia nervosa: a high risk group for under-nutrition and stunting? European Journal of Paediatrics, 149, 130–135.Google Scholar
Woodside, D. & Shekter-Wolfson, L. (1990) Parenting by patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 9, 303–309.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1992) The Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD–10). Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.