When parenting fails: alexithymia and attachment states of mind in mothers of female patients with eating disorders

Frontiers in Psychology
Cecilia Serena PaceFabiola Bizzi

Abstract

In recent years alexithymia and attachment theory have been recognized as two parallel research lines trying to improve the information on the development and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs). However, no research has analyzed these constructs among patients' families. In this study we compared alexithymia and attachment in mothers of patients with EDs and a control group. Further, we hypothesized that mothers of daughters with EDs with insecure and unresolved states of mind will reported high levels of alexithymia. Lastly, we explored the daughters' evaluations of maternal alexithymia. 45 mothers of ED women and 48 mothers of healthy controls (N = 93) matched for age and socio-demographic variables were administered by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) (S), while two sub-groups of "ED" mothers (n = 20) and "non-ED" ones (n = 22) were assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Moreover, the Observer Alexithymia Scale (OAS) was administered to the daughters for evaluating maternal alexithymia. Regarding alexithymia, no differences were found between ED and non-ED mothers according to the TAS-20, while ED mothers showed more unresolved AAI classifications than non-ED mothers. No correlations were found between...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 13, 2017·European Eating Disorders Review : the Journal of the Eating Disorders Association·Janet Treasure, Valentina Cardi
Mar 20, 2016·Journal of Health Psychology·Cecilia Serena PaceDonatella Cavanna
May 10, 2019·Frontiers in Psychology·Zdzisław KroplewskiAnita Gójska

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