David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Study Shows Link Between Early Insecurity And Eating Disorders
June 15, 2006
by Julie Farby, All Headline News
New York, NY (AHN)-A new study suggests insecure attachment plays a key role in promoting the development of a negative body image in women with eating disorders. This suggests that the prevention and treatment of eating disorders might be strengthened by a greater concentration on early separation anxiety and insecure attachment to caregivers.
In the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, Dr. Alfonso Troisi and colleagues explain the theory of attachment holds that early experiences shape adult personality. Infants who are emotionally cared for "develop a model of the self as loved and valued and a model of the other as loving."
Infants, on the other hand, who experience neglect and/or rejection at the hands of a caregiver, and come to believe that they cannot depend on their caregiver, may begin to feel that they are unworthy of love.
In their research, Troisi and colleagues from the University of Rome looked for associations between early insecure attachment and separation anxiety, and body dissatisfaction in 96 women with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa who were in their 20s and 30s.
According to the Reuters report, the team found that both insecure attachment and early separation anxiety were strongly associated with a negative body image, even after controlling for the effects of body weight and depression.
Troisi and colleagues write, "Our findings confirm that insecure attachment is a consistent correlate of negative body image" not only in young girls, but also in adult women, with eating disorders.
June 15, 2006
by Julie Farby, All Headline News
New York, NY (AHN)-A new study suggests insecure attachment plays a key role in promoting the development of a negative body image in women with eating disorders. This suggests that the prevention and treatment of eating disorders might be strengthened by a greater concentration on early separation anxiety and insecure attachment to caregivers.
In the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, Dr. Alfonso Troisi and colleagues explain the theory of attachment holds that early experiences shape adult personality. Infants who are emotionally cared for "develop a model of the self as loved and valued and a model of the other as loving."
Infants, on the other hand, who experience neglect and/or rejection at the hands of a caregiver, and come to believe that they cannot depend on their caregiver, may begin to feel that they are unworthy of love.
In their research, Troisi and colleagues from the University of Rome looked for associations between early insecure attachment and separation anxiety, and body dissatisfaction in 96 women with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa who were in their 20s and 30s.
According to the Reuters report, the team found that both insecure attachment and early separation anxiety were strongly associated with a negative body image, even after controlling for the effects of body weight and depression.
Troisi and colleagues write, "Our findings confirm that insecure attachment is a consistent correlate of negative body image" not only in young girls, but also in adult women, with eating disorders.
