Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether family functioning and cognitions in a group of overweight female adolescents differ significantly from those in a group of normal weight female adolescents.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.
SUBJECTS: In all, 23 overweight female adolescents (mean age: 17.6 y, mean body mass index (BMI: 27.8 kg/m2), and 23 normal weight female adolescents (mean age: 17.7 y, mean BMI: 20.2 kg/m2).
MEASUREMENTS: The following self-report measures were completed: the Parental Bonding Inventory,1 the Young Schema Questionnaire-short version,2 the Eating Attitudes Test,3 the Beck Depression Inventory4 and the Eating Disorder Belief Questionnaire.5
RESULTS: Overweight female adolescents reported more negative self-beliefs and greater belief in schema relating to emotional deprivation, fears of abandonment, subjugation and insufficient self-control. They also perceived their fathers as being significantly more overprotective and significantly less caring. Within this group perceived level of maternal care correlated negatively with negative self-beliefs and schema.
CONCLUSIONS: Overweight female adolescents show some of the cognitive features associated with the development of an eating disorder. However, positive parent–child relationships may serve to protect overweight adolescents from developing clinical eating disorders and from psychological distress later in life.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Parker G, Tupling H, Brown L . A Parental Bonding Instrument. Br J Med Psychol 1979; 52: 1–10.
Young JE . The Young Schema Questionnaire: Short Form. http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/schema/ysqs1.htm. 1998.
Garner DM, Garfinkel PE . The Eating Attitudes Test: an index of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Psychol Med 1979; 9: 273–279.
Beck AT . Beck Depression Inventory. The Psychological Corporation: San Antonio, TX; 1996.
Cooper M, Cohen-Tovee E, Todd G, Wells A, Tovee M . The Eating Disorder Belief Questionnaire: preliminary development. Behav Res Ther 1997; 35 (4): 381–388.
World Health Organisation. Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/obesity/en/ 2003.
Neumark-Sztainer D, Story M, French S, Hanna PJ, Resnick MD, Blum RW . Psychological concerns and health-compromising behaviours among overweight and non-overweight adolescents. Obes Res 1997; 5: 237–249.
Pastore DR, Fisher M, Friedman S . Abnormalities in weight status, eating attitudes and eating behaviors among urban high school students. J Adolesc Health 1996; 18: 312–319.
Mellin AE, Neumark-Sztainer D, Story M, Ireland M, Resnick M . Unhealthy behaviours and psychosocial difficulties among overweight adolescents: the potential impact of familial factors. J Adolesc Health 2002; 31: 145–153.
Stradmeijer M, Bosch J, Koops W, Seidell J . Family functioning and psychosocial adjustment in overweight youngsters. Int J Eating Disord 2000; 27: 110–114.
National Institute of Clinical Excellence. Predicting the Outcome of Treatment and Recovery Review. Appendix 11. Eating Disorders: Core Interventions in the Treatment and Management of Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders. National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Commissioned by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence, The British Psychological Society and Gaskell: London; 2004.
Attie I, Brooks-Gunn J . Development of eating problems in adolescent girls: a longitudinal study. Dev Psychol 1989; 25: 70–79.
Keel PK, Fulkerson JA, Leon GR . Disordered eating precursors in pre and early adolescent girls and boys. J Youth Adolesc 1997; 26: 203–216.
Streigel-Moore RH, Cachelin FM . Etiology of eating disorders in women. Counsel Psychologist 2001; 29: 635–661.
Fairburn CG, Welch SL, Doll HA, Davies BA, O'Connor ME . Risk factors for bulimia nervosa: a community-based case–control study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1997; 54: 509–517.
Fairburn CG, Cooper Z, Doll HA, Welch SL . Risk factors for anorexia nervosa: three integrated case–control comparisons. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1999; 56: 468–476.
Fairburn CG, Cooper Z, Doll HA, Welch SL . Risk factors for binge eating disorder: a community-based case–control study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1999; 56: 468–476.
Mallinckrodt B, McCreary BA, Robertson AK . Co-occurrence of eating disorders and incest: the role of attachment, family environment, and social competencies. J Counsel Psychol 1995; 42: 178–186.
Minuchin S, Roseman BL, Baker L . Psychosomatic Families: Anorexia Nervosa in Context. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA; 1978.
Burrows A, Cooper MJ . Possible risk factors in the development of eating disorders in overweight pre-adolescent girls. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2002; 26: 1–6.
Waller G, Kennerley H, Ohanian V . Schema-focused cognitive behaviour therapy with the eating disorders. In: LP Riso, PT du Toit and JE Young (eds) Cognitive Schemas and Core Beliefs in Psychiatric Disorders: A Scientist-Practitioner Guide. American Psychological Association: New York, (in press).
Cooper M, Turner H . Underlying assumptions and core beliefs in anorexia nervosa and dieting. Br J Clin Psychol 2000; 39: 215–218.
Cooper M, Hunt J . Core beliefs and underlying assumptions in bulimia nervosa and depression. Behav Res Ther 1998; 36: 895–898.
Leung N, Waller G, Thomas G . Core beliefs in anorexic and bulimic women. J Nerv Ment Dis 1999; 187: 736–741.
Williamson DA, Anderson DA, Jackman LP, Jackson SR . Assessment of eating disordered thoughts, feelings and behaviours. In: Allison DB (ed) Handbook of Assessment Methods for Eating Behaviours and Weight-Related Problems. Measures, Theory & Research. Sage Publications: London; 1995.
Beck AT, Steer RA, Garbin MG . Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: twenty-five years of evaluation. Clin Psychol Rev 1988; 8: 77–100.
Waller G, Meyer C, Ohanian V . Psychometric properties of the long and short versions of the Young Schema Questionnaire: core beliefs among bulimic and comparison women. Cogn Ther Res 2001; 25: 137–147.
Stopa L, Thorne P, Waters A, Preston J . Are the short and long forms of the Young Schema Questionnaire comparable and how well does each version predict psychopathology scores? J Cogn Psychother 2001; 15: 253–272.
Mackinnon AJ, Henderson AS, Scott R, Duncan-Jones P . The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI): an epidemiological study in a general population sample. Psychol Med 1989; 19: 1023–1034.
SPSS. Advanced Statistics 7.5. SPSS Inc.: Chicago; 1997.
Beck AT, Rush AJ, Shaw BF, Emery G . Cognitive Therapy of Depression. Guildford: New York; 1979.
Young JE, Klosko JE, Weishaar ME . Schema Therapy: A Practitioner's Guide. The Guildford Press: New York; 2003.
Baron RM, Kenny DA . The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. J Pers Soc Psychol 1986; 51: 1173–1182.
Cooper MJ, Wells A, Todd G . A cognitive model of bulimia nervosa. Br J Clin Psychol 2004; 16: 1–16.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Turner, H., Rose, K. & Cooper, M. Schema and parental bonding in overweight and nonoverweight female adolescents. Int J Obes 29, 381–387 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802915
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802915
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Inadequate care and excessive overprotection during childhood are associated with the presence of diabetes mellitus in adulthood in a general Japanese population: a cross-sectional analysis from the Hisayama Study
BMC Endocrine Disorders (2023)
-
A preliminary study: designing and validating projective images of Young’s early maladaptive schema (EMS) domains
BMC Psychology (2021)
-
The Relationships Between Early Maladaptive Schemas and Youth Mental Health: A Systematic Review
Cognitive Therapy and Research (2020)
-
Intergenerational Transfer of Early Maladaptive Schemas in Mother–Daughter Dyads, and the Role of Parenting
Cognitive Therapy and Research (2019)
-
Are Iranian obese women candidate for bariatric surgery different cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally from their normal weight counterparts?
Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity (2015)