Attachment Styles and Eating Disorders There have been many studies over the years regarding attachment styles and eating disorders. This is due to the incidence of eating disorders increasing in numbers among young women in industrialized countries. This rise has been seen in the last three decades. Eating disorders are prevalent among young women but also include some young men as well. The studies used for this review pertained to women only. Researchers have demonstrated the correlation between anorexia nervosa and bulimia in regards to attachment styles in many instances. This review of the literature on attachment styles and eating disorders focuses on the following six items.
1. How did the investigators measure the topic of
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This studies goal was to examine the extent to which family environment and attachment styles are concurrently related to eating disorders. Troisi and Cuzzolaro (2005) wanted to see whether women with eating disorders have a higher frequency of separation anxiety symptoms in childhood, and a higher prevalence of insecure styles of adult attachment, compared with healthy women. This study used the Separation Anxiety Symptom Inventory (SASI) and the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ). The second purpose of this study was to see whether different styles of insecure adult attachment are linked with diagnostic subgroups of eating disorders. Ringer and Crittenden’s (2007) study examined the pattern of attachment in women with an eating disorder to determine what types of self-protective strategies they used and also whether there was a specific relationship between strategy and diagnosis. Their study used the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) method. Tereno, Soares, Martins, Celani, and Sampaio (2008) did a study on patients with anorexia nervosa, bulimia, their parents and their therapists. This study was to examine the differences between clinical groups and a control group in terms of attachment styles and perceptions of memories of parental rearing. This study used the Portuguese version of the Adult Attachment Scale and the Inventory for Assessing
According to Belangee (2007) most of the research regarding couples and marriage implicates that marriage can prolong eating disorders especially if the intimate relationship is unsatisfying and a source of stress (pp. 294-295). More recent research has shown that married women may have more severe symptoms due to being older than unmarried individuals suffering from eating disorders but there is little data
Thesis Statement: It is important to understand eating disorders and the types of eating disorders to overcome them and seek the proper treatment.
The family tends to play an important role in the development of eating disorders. Males tend to have very strict, domineering fathers who encouraged development in sports. It has also been recognized that many men with eating disorders may not have had a father figure around at all. (Zerbe, 1992) Their mothers have been described as overprotective and controlling. (Romero, 1994) Adolescent boys with eating disorders relate that parents or siblings are usually on diets as well and there tends to be an emphasis on food and dieting
To compare rates of sexual traumata among eating disordered women to those among women with other psychiatric disturbances (eating disorders excluded), a group of 21 women in hospital inpatient or outpatient treatments was formed, all within the age range of the eating disordered subjects who were not actively psychotic or heavily medicated. A normal control group contained 24 women consisting of hospital staff, parents, friends, and students comparable in age to the eating disordered subjects.
Eating disorders can be viewed as multi-determined disorder. Multi-determined disorders can conclude of various factors to the cause of one’s eating disorder. Each factor produces stressors to which “initiates dieting, weight loss, and the pursuit of thinness” (Diaz, 2017). A multi-determined disorder would be anorexia nervosa. These multi-determined factors leading to eating disorders may include socio-cultural, competitive environments, interpersonal, family, etc. Those who have eating disorders are diagnosed with more than one causing factor. With such stressors occurring to the self, leads to the self concept of when one has little memory of positive schemas. He or she is then unable to cope with challenges, thus feeling unworthy to his
Mental health professionals recognize that Family Systems Therapy (FT) and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) have had successes as a treatment methodology for individuals who develop eating disorders (Jones, Volker, Lock, Taylor, and Jacobi, 2012; Park, Waller, and Gannon, 2013). In this paper, I compare and contrast an individual approach involving cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and a family systems approach. Definitions and descriptions of studies involving both approaches will be provided, and a comparison will be made. Finally, a discussion of the ethics of both studies will be discussed.
We are all genetically and socially affected by our families. Families serve as the matrix of our identity. It is through interactions within the family that we develop a sense of who we are and how we fit in (Minuchin, Rosman & Baker, 1978). Parents serve as role models, providing examples for attitudes, coping skills, and eating habits, as well as setting standards for perfection, ambition and acceptance (Hall & Cohn, 1992). Many researchers claim that family dynamics are at the root of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa. The role of dysfunctional family interactions in the pathogenesis of anorexia nervosa has been given a prominent place in the research field. Evidence for a specific
Disordered self-image, sense of self, and self-esteem are affected negatively by dysfunctional family systems. Maladaptive perfectionism affects mood, causes decreased self-esteem, and contributes to the development of avoidance tactics. Adolescent dysregulations includes disordered eating behaviors and/or eating disorders, anxiety, depression, body dissatisfaction, and extreme attempts at weight control; all of which can be caused by child sexual abuse, maladaptive perfectionism, parental attachment issues, and the development of alexithymia. Other dysregulations include faulty coping mechanisms, which are also affected by anxiety, depression, and neuroticism.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of self-regulated food restriction in which the person strives for thinness and also involves distortion of the way the person sees his or her own body. An anorexic person weighs less than 85% of their ideal body weight. The prevalence of eating disorders is between .5-1% of women aged 15-40 and about 1/20 of this number occurs in men. Anorexia affects all aspects of an affected person's life including emotional health, physical health, and relationships with others (Shekter-Wolfson et al 5-6). A study completed in 1996 showed that anorexics also tend to possess traits that are obsessive in nature and carry heavy emotional
This paper reviews the relationships among eating disorders, trauma, and comorbid psychiatric disorders, with a particular focus on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There have been a number of significant conclusions in the literature, applicable to clinical practice, which are essential to the understanding of the relationships between generic eating disorders and some types of trauma. These are summarized as follows: a) children's sexual assault is a non-specific risk factor for most eating disorders; b) the level of trauma linked to those eating disorders has been extended from the child's sexual assault to include a multitude of different forms of assault/abuse and; c) trauma is much more common in bulimic eating disorders compared to a non-bulimic disorder; d) As such, those findings linking eating disorders with traumatic ones have been extended to both male and female children and adults with eating disorders; e) findings linking eating disorders with trauma have been extended to both male children and adult males with eating disorders; f) several episodes or types of trauma are associated with eating disorders; g) All trauma is not always associated with severe eating disorders; h) trauma is associated with greater comorbidity (including
Many theorists believe that family dynamics of those suffering from eating disorders may have contributed to their illness. For instance, anorexic families have sought to be closely related, with perfectionistic attitudes, and higher socioeconomic status. Cole-Detke & Konak (1996) described anorexic families as dependent on their child which results in the sufferer being tired to their needy parents by stopping their daughter from actually developing her own autonomy and sense of separation into the world. According to attachment theory, disordered eating behaviors and the attempt to control
Much of the literature that focuses on the parents' role in the development of eating disorders is focused on the mother and the mother-daughter relationship. Studies have shown conclusively that a mother's body image and eating habits are, mirrored in her daughter, and that if she is obsessed with her own body image, it stands likely that her daughter will be the same way both growing up and in her adult life. The father, though, is often left out of the research except for in the basic family profile. Here, we will examine the active role that the father plays in the development of eating disorders in their daughters. First, we will explore why the father's ideas and
The correlation between eating disorders and other psychological disorders is very important for our understanding of the causes and possible treatments for eating disorders. It is known that many people with eating disorders also fit the criteria for several DSM-IV psychological disorders. If researchers can find patterns of comorbidity between these two types of disorders they may be able to better diagnose and treat patients with both of these disorders. The question that I pose it what is the relationship between eating disorders and personality disorders(axis 11 disorders in DSM-IV)? It is important to look for comorbidity between the two disorders to determine the impact they have on each
Similar to the form of group therapy in the previous case study, the use of family therapy is a common treatment for coping with an eating disorder. In a controlled study on the effects of family therapy as a source of treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa, an observational study was conducted comparing two forms of family therapy. In addition to observing the patients in treatment they also examined the five-year follow-up of 40 patients who utilized conjoined group family therapy and separate family therapy (Eisler, Simic, Russell and Dare. 2007). The study included interviewing 40 patients who received either separate or conjoint family therapy. In addition to the interviews with the families, all participants also took part in 6-question surveys. The data collected measured the relationship between symptomatic outcome and psychosocial
Low self-esteem plays a prominent role in many multifactorial theories of the etiology of eating disorders.