Mother-daughter coping and disordered eating

Abstract

This study explores whether the coping style of teenage girls with and without an eating disorder is similar to that of their mothers' (biological and adoptive), and whether teens with disordered eating utilize more maladaptive coping compared with those without. Eating disorder was diagnosed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision criteria, and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations was administered to distinguish the coping style of the participants. Our findings suggest that daughters coped very similarly to their mothers in either group. Contrary to previous studies, our sample of teenage girls with eating disorders as well as their mothers utilized less frequently the avoidance-distraction coping compared with the girls without eating disorders and their mothers. These findings reinforce the importance for family involvement and for simultaneous focus on intrapersonal and interpersonal maintenance factors during eating disorder treatment.

Keywords: anorexia nervosa; coping; disordered eating.