The Roles of Perceived Parental Bonding and Religiosity in Disordered Eating Risk

Anna Shanabrook, Pace University

Abstract

Eating disorders, which typically develop in adolescence or young adulthood, often have serious, even fatal, health consequences. Studies have found that there are many different factors that impact the risk of developing an eating disorder. One such factor is the interplay between child and parent dynamics, where cold, neglectful parents (“low care”) have been found to increase the risk of disordered eating while warm, affectionate parents (“high care”) decrease the risk. Religiosity also plays a role, where high levels of religious commitment due to internal belief (“intrinsic religiosity) has been found to decrease risk of disordered eating while high levels of religious commitment due to external rewards (“extrinsic religiosity”) has been found to increase risk. Intrinsic religiosity has also been found to buffer familial risk, specifically parental disordered eating history. However, no studies have looked at the interplay between parental care and intrinsic religiosity in buffering eating disorder risk. The primary aim of this study was to replicate past research regarding the relationship between parental care and disordered eating as well as intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity and disordered eating. Additionally, this study looked at the interplay of all three factors. Exploratory analyses included looking at the three factors with clinical cutoffs and examining the role of parental history of disordered eating. Results found that individuals whose parents were perceived to have high levels of care were at decreased risk of having or developing an eating disorder. Conversely, individuals whose parents were perceived to have low levels of care were at increased risk of developing an eating disorder. In contrast to previous research, individuals who have higher levels of extrinsic religiosity were at decreased risk of having or developing an eating disorder. No significant relationship was found in the interplay between the three factors. Exploratory analyses found that low care maternal parenting styles had higher incidences for risk of developing an eating disorder. Additionally, results found that low intrinsic religiosity, high risk for eating disorders, and low care maternal parenting styles were related to each other, and that high intrinsic religiosity, high risk for eating disorders, and the paternal parenting style of affectionless control were related to each other. Results, limitations, and future directions of research were discussed.

Subject Area

Psychology|Religion|Mental health|Clinical psychology|Individual & family studies

Recommended Citation

Shanabrook, Anna, "The Roles of Perceived Parental Bonding and Religiosity in Disordered Eating Risk" (2023). ETD Collection for Pace University. AAI30636509.
https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/dissertations/AAI30636509

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