An investigation of associations between parenting and binge eating across pubertal development in pre‐adolescent and adolescent female participants

OBJECTIVE: Puberty is a period of increased risk for the development of binge eating in female adolescents. Although developmental changes in autonomy‐seeking behaviors and body weight and shape may influence both parenting styles and binge eating during puberty, studies have yet to examine how parenting practices may be differentially associated with youth outcomes depending on developmental stage. The current study examines whether interactions between puberty and parenting are associated with higher levels of binge‐eating symptoms during/after puberty in female youth. METHODS: Analyses used cross‐sectional data from a previous study of disordered eating and puberty in 999 female youth (ages 8–16) and their parents from the Michigan State University Twin Registry. Youth self‐reported binge eating, pubertal development, and perceived parental care and overprotection. Both parents and youth reported on parent–child conflict. Mixed linear models were used to examine whether pubertal development moderates the strength of associations between parenting (parent–child conflict, parental care, and parental overprotection) and offspring binge eating. RESULTS: Although higher levels of parental overprotection and conflict, and lower levels of parental care were all significantly associated with binge eating, none of the associations were significantly moderated by pubertal development or age. DISCUSSION: The quality of the parent–child relationship is significantly associated with binge eating in female youth regardless of developmental stage, highlighting the need for targeting harmful parenting strategies during adolescent eating disorder intervention. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first study to examine whether parenting/binge‐eating associations in female participants differ across pubertal development. In a large population‐based sample, we found lower parental care, higher parent–child conflict, and higher parental overprotection were all associated with higher levels of binge eating. Notably, associations did not differ across pubertal stage or age, suggesting that parenting is significantly associated with binge eating, regardless of developmental stage.