The moderating role of emotional reactivity in the link between parental hostility and eating disorder symptoms in early adolescence.

Parent-adolescent relationship quality and affective functioning have been implicated in eating disorder development. This study examined whether maternal and paternal hostility interact to explain adolescents' eating disorder symptoms and whether parental hostility effects are more pronounced among adolescents with high emotional reactivity. A sample of 699 adolescents, ages 11-12 years, reported their parents' hostility and their own eating disorder symptoms, and parents reported adolescents' emotional reactivity. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that for emotionally reactive adolescents, paternal hostility was positively associated with eating disorder symptoms at both high and low levels of maternal hostility. In addition, eating disorder symptoms were amplified when both parents were high in hostility. Findings from this study lend support for the role of emotional reactivity in the link between parent hostility and eating disorder symptoms during adolescence.