Eating disorders from parent to child: Mothers’ perceptions of transgenerational effect

Abstract

Primary prevention focuses on the reduction of risk factors. Children of mothers with an eating disorder are a proven “at risk” group, because children internalise their experiences. Prevention in the field of eating disorders has as yet only addressed children of seven or eight upwards and only in school-based programs which did not incorporate mothers. This project targeted mothers with an eating disorder who had children under the age of thirteen. The hypothesis is that if these mothers can be encouraged to change damaging behaviour that their children are likely to model, we can attempt to break the cycle of dysfunction. This is a qualitative and quantitive research project, carried out with standardised measures and semi-structured interviews before and after a nineteen week therapy group, with six and twelve month follow ups. The group consisted of eight mothers. This paper describes the group and provides a case study of one participant. The initial analysis suggests that the support of a therapeutic group allowed this mother enough space for reflection. She became aware of her dysfunctional behaviour and was able to begin to understand the underlying reasons behind it. This led to an improvement in her own Eating Disorder (ED) and she was subsequently able to make change in her responses to her children's needs.

Keywords:

• Eating disorders
• prevention
• mothers
• group

This project was funded by the Hertfordshire Research Network.