The development of disordered eating: factors of influence and treatment experience in male adolescents
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2024
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Evidence suggests that distinct psychosocial factors are associated with disordered eating (DE) in male and female adolescents, and trajectories toward diagnosable eating disorders (ED) have been differentiated between the sexes in the literature. This thesis explored the association between psychosocial variables and disordered eating in male adolescents in four distinct ways.
Initially, a PRISMA based systematic review of factors that influence the development of DE in male adolescents was undertaken. Thirty-five factors including psychological concerns, body appearance factors, sociocultural and familial influences were identified as prospectively associated with the development of DE attitudes and behaviors in male adolescents. Potential limitations were also identified in the psychometric assessment measures used to identify those factors, namely that they reflected assumptions derived from research and treatment literature developed in the area of female EDs, and that they were validated predominantly or entirely on female populations.
A latent class segmentation analysis was then conducted to examine the association between DE attitudes and behaviors in male adolescents and family relational quality; child social, emotional, and behavioral functioning; and child social media use. A three-class solution provided the best fit to the data and subscale score means on the EDI-3 (Garner, 2004) increased across classes. However, there were no significant differences in parenting quality; child social, emotional, and behavioral functioning; and internalization of appearance ideals across the classes.
In the third study, a structural model was developed and tested, which assessed the association between parent-child relational quality and features of DE in male adolescents. While no direct association was identified between parent- child relational quality and DE in male adolescents, two distinct relationships were identified: one involved child social, emotional, and behavioral functioning and a second involved an association with social media.
Finally, a qualitative analysis was conducted to explore male adolescent patient’s experience of ED treatment and the extent to which patients understood their treatment to be responsive to their symptoms.
The thesis concludes that there is significant potential to continue to redefine both the development of DE and the presence of EDs in male adolescents. This potential may better reflect DE attitudes and behaviors unique to male adolescents and may, therefore, provide better assistance in early intervention and treatment response. Findings are discussed in terms of their clinical implications, the limitations associated with this program of research, and potential directions for future research.
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