Disordered eating among mothers of Polish patients with eating disorders

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to assess attitudes towards eating as measured by the Eating Attitude Test (EAT26) among mothers of girls diagnosed with various types of eating disorders, in comparison with mothers of depressive girls and their relationship with daughters’ results 14 years after the beginning of the Polish political and cultural transformation of 1989. MATERIAL/METHODS: The data of 68 mothers and their daughters were used in statistical analysis (anorexia nervosa restrictive type: 18, anorexia nervosa binge/purge type: 12, bulimia: 14, depression: 24). The mean age in the group of mothers was 43.5 (SD 5.3), daughters: 16.7 (SD 1.4). RESULTS: In the group of mothers, the results of EAT26 test were lower than results of the general population of Polish females or patients’ mothers obtained in a different cultural context. Results from girls with an eating disorder diagnosis considerably exceed the mean result of Polish population studies of teenagers. There were no statistically significant differences between the EAT26 results of mothers of girls with various types of eating disorders and mothers of depressive girls. Sociocultural variables such as education and place of residence of mothers also did not differentiate the studied groups and did not have a significant influence on attitudes towards weight and body shape presented by the studied mothers. CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results may suggest that in the studied population, the social background of mothers and disturbances of their own mothers’ attitudes towards weight and body shape were not an important and specific risk factor in the development of their daughters’ eating disorders.