I've been researching how children with eating disordered mothers are impacted. Unfortunately, there is very little research out there, but I did find Dr. Allen Stein at Oxford University who studies how a parent's psychopathology (including bulimia) can negatively impact a child's development. His studies are very compelling, and, he has completed a study testing out an intervention with mothers with EDs who have young children. With success.
My focus is narrow because this is my experience, having been the daughter of a bulimic mother (my sister and I developed eating disorders despite our differing personalities and different biological fathers) but I hope someone can get something out of this.
In my dream world, I would like to see treatment professionals take this into account when assessing EDs. Eating disorders are very complicated and multi-faceted, but I think it's important to look at the whole family, not just the individual.
Maybe someone out there can answer this question - when a parent seeks treatment for an ED, do the treatment professionals assess the impact of the the parent's ED on the children in the home?
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Hi,
I've been researching how children with eating disordered mothers are impacted. Unfortunately, there is very little research out there, but I did find Dr. Allen Stein at Oxford University who studies how a parent's psychopathology (including bulimia) can negatively impact a child's development. His studies are very compelling, and, he has completed a study testing out an intervention with mothers with EDs who have young children. With success.
My focus is narrow because this is my experience, having been the daughter of a bulimic mother (my sister and I developed eating disorders despite our differing personalities and different biological fathers) but I hope someone can get something out of this.
In my dream world, I would like to see treatment professionals take this into account when assessing EDs. Eating disorders are very complicated and multi-faceted, but I think it's important to look at the whole family, not just the individual.
http://www.neuroscience.ox.ac.uk/pubs/psychiatry-publications/SteinEtAl2006
http://www.neuroscience.ox.ac.uk/pubs/psychiatry-publications/SteinEtAl2006a
Maybe someone out there can answer this question - when a parent seeks treatment for an ED, do the treatment professionals assess the impact of the the parent's ED on the children in the home?
Thanks,
June 8, 2009 - 12:58pmCarol
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