Female adolescents of alcohol misusers: disordered eating features

Studies show that children of alcohol-abusing parents constitute an at-risk population. This study attempted to understand the impact of parental alcohol misuse on the disordered eating behaviors of their female adolescent children, based on a sample of 532 teenagers from alcohol-misusing parents in Minnesota. These female adolescents had significantly higher prevalence rates of all the seven eating disordered symptoms that were studied. The study also identified a few protective factors: Those who did not develop any of the disordered eating symptoms were more satisfied with their present weight. Further, they worried less about abuse from parents and perceived that their school personnel cared about them.