Negative parenting styles and disordered eating: an item-level bridge network and simulation-based intervention...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Eating Disorder Research

Background:

• Negative parenting styles are linked to disordered eating (DE).
• Previous research focused on general parenting styles, not specific item-level connections.
• Understanding item-level pathways can refine prevention and intervention strategies for DE.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify specific item-level pathways between parenting styles and disordered eating (DE) in Chinese college students.
• To explore the role of parental rejection and overprotection in DE.
• To test simulation-based interventions targeting specific parenting and DE items.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Gaussian Graphical Models and item-level bridge network analyses on a sample of 2,008 Chinese college students.
• Assessed parenting styles using the short-form Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran for Chinese (s-EMBU-C).
• Measured disordered eating attitudes using the Eating Attitudes Test-19 (EAT-19).

Main Results:

• Parental rejection pathways included unexplained anger, scapegoating, and shaming, linked to food avoidance and body fat preoccupation.
• Parental overprotection pathways involved excessive worry and intrusive interference, linked to desire for an empty stomach and perceived thinness.
• Simulations indicated that targeting key 'bridge' items reduced the link between parenting and DE by up to 83%.

Conclusions:

• Hostile, shaming, and anxious, intrusive parenting behaviors are core pathways linking negative parenting to DE.
• Interventions targeting high-impact 'bridge' items are more efficient than addressing all items.
• Findings offer a reference for developing targeted support strategies for college students experiencing DE.