Is there a relationship between parental self-reported psychopathology and symptom severity in adolescents with anorexia nervosa?

The current study aimed to screen for indications of psychopathology displayed by the parents of adolescents diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa (AN), and examine the relationship between severity of adolescent eating disorder symptoms and parental psychopathology. Sixty female adolescents diagnosed with DSM-IV-TR AN (restricting-type and binge-purge-type) were administered the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) and parents completed the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R). As compared to established non-patient norms, both fathers and mothers of adolescents with AN reported greater levels of obsessive compulsive behaviors, hostility, depression, and anxiety as measured by the SCL-90-R. In addition, duration of AN was positively associated with hostility scores in fathers, and global EDE scores were associated with hostility in mothers. While parental scores on the SCL-90 were elevated as compared to community samples, results of this study do not support a direct influence of parental psychopathology on symptom severity of adolescent AN. Increasing rates of hostility scores in parents with increased duration of AN may represent either a response to the presence of the disorder or be a maintaining factor for AN.