A Longitudinal Examination of the Association Between Parenting Behavior, Social-Emotional Coping, and Adolescent Disordered Eating
Date
2015
Authors
Martinson, Laura Elspeth
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Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the role that parent-related environmental risk factors (poor parental monitoring and mental health) and adolescent social-emotional coping skills play in the development of disordered eating behaviors and attitudes (DEBA) in a clinical sample of adolescents. These questions were explored using an existing dataset collected to examine the efficacy of an adjunctive adolescent suicide, substance abuse, and HIV prevention program. The first study examined whether parental monitoring predicts more or less favorable trajectories of DEBA, particularly among females. It was hypothesized that lower parental monitoring would predict increases in DEBA over time. Participants included 87 adolescents (61% female, 46.5% Caucasian, 34.9% African-American, and 18.6% Other, mean age = 15.5, SD = 1.4) in mental health treatment and their parents. Data were collected at baseline as well as 6-month and 12-month follow-ups. Individual growth curve (IGC) analyses were used to examine growth or change in DEBA over the course of one year. Parental monitoring predicted between-person change in DEBA. Adolescents who reported lower parental monitoring showed trajectories characterized by increases in DEBA. The same pattern emerged when using parent report of monitoring, though only a trend was evident. When analyses were restricted to females, the main effect of parental and adolescent report of monitoring on DEBA were equally strong. Results may suggest that parents who are less knowledgeable about their adolescents’ daily lives, may be less aware of DEBA, and thus less likely to intervene.
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Keywords
Clinical psychology, Adolescents, Eating Disorders, Parenting, Social-Emotional Coping