Perceived family functioning among adolescents with and without loss of control eating

Youth with loss of control eating (LOC) have poorer social relationships than youth without LOC. However, perceived family functioning among youth reporting LOC is relatively unexplored. We examined perceived family functioning among 990 twins (age = 17.47 ± 0.71 years, 53% female) from the Colorado Center for Antisocial Drug Dependence with (n = 158) and without (n = 832) LOC. LOC was assessed with one binary item. Associations between family functioning and LOC were examined using general linear models that accounted for dependence in twin data. Girls with greater family conflict had higher odds of endorsing LOC (p = .02), but not after accounting for depressive symptoms (p = .26). Further analysis indicated that depressive symptoms mediated the association between LOC and family conflict (p = .04). This finding is consistent with an interpersonal model, which proposes that interpersonal difficulties lead to negative emotional states, which promotes LOC as a method of coping with negative affect. Family cohesion and expressiveness were not associated with LOC in girls, and none of the family functioning variables were associated with LOC in boys (ps > .05). Future studies are needed to clarify these relations and to determine any relevant treatment indications.