Do parents perceive the abnormal eating attitudes of their adolescent children with anorexia nervosa?

Abstract

Parents are often the first to detect the initial signs of anorexia nervosa (AN) and take necessary measures to ensure that their children receive appropriate treatment. The evaluation of AN in adolescence is complicated by taking into account the tendency to minimize and deny the symptoms by adolescents, and the difficulty of parents in detecting the main symptoms. We compared the adolescent and parent scores on measures of disordered eating at initial presentation. The sample consisted of 62 adolescents diagnosed with AN, who attended an eating disorder children’s unit. Adolescents completed the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40) and their parents the Anorectic Behavior Observation Scale (ABOS). The questionnaire data were collected as part of the routine clinical practice and were obtained from clinical notes. The findings indicate no significant correlations between the EAT-40 and ABOS scores, or between AN subtypes according to parent observation of symptoms. There were significant differences between parents, with mothers reporting higher scores than fathers. This study highlights the importance of psychoeducation for parents on the early signs of AN, in order to improve recognition and diagnosis at initial assessment of their adolescent children in the early phases.