[The perception of family function and psychosexual development in obese adolescents]

The interaction of psychological and social factors with family functioning and psychosexual development was studied in obese adolescents. Family functioning was evaluated using the triaxial classification of Tseng and McDermott. A total of 246 adolescents 8 to 18 years old (124 males and 122 females) were grouped in two: obese (n = 109) and non obese (n = 137). With the use of multivariate analysis it was found that the group of obese youngsters had higher rates of triangular parents-child dysfunction (p < 0.001) and more disapproval for their feeding behavior (p = 0.002); on the other hand, they considered they were more accepted in the family (p = 0.029) and felt greater concern from their parents (p = 0.004). It was concluded that the feeding behavior is interrelated with several aspects of the family psychodynamics which has an effect on the adolescents homeostasis and on his own body image perception. Those factors should be taken into consideration when the obese youngster is studied in clinical practice.