Impact of Parenting Factors and Personal Ego Development on Risk for Eating Disorders Among College Women

IMPACT OF PARENTING FACTORS AND PERSONAL EGO DEVELOPMENT ON RISK FOR EATING DISORDERS AMONG COLLEGE WOMEN Valerie J. Lucas, M.S. Marquette University, 2010 The purpose of this study was to examine the role of parental factors and individual ego development in identifying an at-risk profile for eating disordered behavior among female emerging adults. Specifically, this study was designed to test the hypotheses that parent eating attitudes and behavior and parenting style are correlated phenomena associated with a self-reported proclivity for eating disordered behavior among female offspring with individual ego development level as either a protective or exacerbating factor. Previous research with parental factors and eating disorders does not address a comprehensive model that utilizes the multiple parental variables of parent eating attitudes and behavior and parenting style, and young adult ego development. It was predicted that those at risk for developing an eating disorder would report experiencing their parents‟ style as high in control and low in warmth or low in control and high in warmth, parents will report a higher incidence of personal eating disordered behaviors and attitudes, and the student‟s level of ego development will mediate the impact of these parental factors. A total of 131 mother-daughter dyads were used for this project. There were significant correlations found between daughters‟ approach to eating and mothers‟ approach to eating and mothers‟ parenting style. However, there was no relationship between ego development and any of the predictor variables or daughters‟ approach to eating, precluding ego development as a mediator. Ego development also did not emerge as a moderator in an alternative model. Additionally, only mothers‟ approach to eating continued to be a significant predictor of daughters‟ approach to eating when factoring out impact on daughters‟ personal well-being. Mothers‟ parenting style was found to not be a significant predictor of daughters‟ approach to eating once personal well-being was factored out as a covariate. These results support the impact of mothers‟ approach to eating, but more research needs to be conducted in examining the relationship between parenting style, ego development, and daughters‟ approach to eating. Eating Disorders i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Valerie J. Lucas, M.S. This project would not have been possible without the unending support of my dissertation advisor, Dr. Ed de St. Aubin. Not only am I grateful for his guidance, wisdom, and insight as a faculty advisor, but also for his dedication, enthusiasm, and patience as a mentor. I would also like to thank committee members Drs. John Grych and Michael Wierzbicki for their invaluable feedback and encouragement. A very special thank you goes to the research team that spent hours collecting data, scoring and entering questionnaires. My husband, Brian, has been incredibly patient and supportive throughout my graduate career. His encouragement and belief in my abilities as a researcher, student, clinician, and future professional have kept me on the path toward achieving these goals. He, along with our daughter, Hailey, will always inspire me to be the best person I can be. I am also grateful to my parents who have always reminded me to keep myself focused, and have supported me to this end from the very beginning. Eating Disorders ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS i LIST OF TABLES iv LIST OF FIGURES vi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1 A. Eating Disorders 3 i. Diagnostic Criteria 3 ii. Etiology 10 a. Psychodynamic 10 b. Developmental 12 c. Cognitive 12 d. Genetic 13 e. Sociocultural 15 B. Parental Variables 20 i. Parent Approach to Eating 23 ii. Parenting Styles 26 C. Ego Development 30 D. Summary 36 CHAPTER II: METHOD 41 A. Participants 41 B. Materials 41 i. Eating Attitudes Test 41 ii. Eating Disorders Inventory – 2 42 Eating Disorders iii iii. Washington University Sentence Completion Test for Ego Development. 43 iv. Parental Authority Questionnaire 44 v. Personal Well-Being 44 V. Design and Procedure 45 CHAPTER III: RESULTS 46 A. Descriptives 46 B. Relationship Between Eating Disorder Measures 48 C. Correlations and Regressions 48 D. Moderation 59 CHAPTER IV: DISCUSSION 68 REFERENCES 75 APPENDICES 83 Eating Disorders iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Descriptive Characteristics 46 Table 2 Internal Consistencies 47 Table 3 Correlation Matrix 49 Table 4 Summary of Regression Analysis for Mother Authoritarianism and Mother Approach to Eating Predicting Daughter Approach to Eating 51 Table 5 Summary of Regression Analysis for Mother Authoritarianism and Daughter Personal Well-Being Predicting Daughter Approach to Eating 53 Table 6 Summary of Regression Analysis for Daughter Personal Well-Being Predicting Daughter Approach to Eating 53 Table 7 Summary of Regression Analysis for Mother Authoritarianism Predicting Daughter Approach to Eating 54 Table 8 Summary of Regression Analysis for Mother Authoritarianism Predicting Daughter Approach to Eating with Daughter Personal Well-Being as a Covariate 55 Table 9 Summary of Regression Analysis for Mother Approach to Eating and Daughter Personal Well-Being Predicting Daughter Approach to Eating 56 Table 10 Summary of Regression Analysis for Mother Approach to Eating Predicting Daughter Approach to Eating 56 Table 11 Summary of Regression Analysis for Mother Approach to Eating Predicting Daughter Approach to Eating with Daughter Personal Well-Being as a Covariate 57 Table 12 Summary of Regression Analysis for Daughter Personal Well-Being, Mother Authoritarianism, and Mother Approach to Eating Predicting Daughter Approach to Eating 58 Table 13 Summary of Regression Analysis for Mother Authoritarianism and Mother Approach to Eating Predicting Daughter Approach to Eating with Daughter Personal Well-Being as a Covariate 59