Beyond identifying risks, researchers have assessed factors that can protect young people from developing disordered eating. One such study examined the experiences of more than 13,000 American adolescents over a six-year period. Researchers measured positive connections with parents, including feelings of closeness and relationship satisfaction, as well as disordered eating, including fasting or skipping meals, compensatory behaviours (i.e., vomiting or taking laxatives, diuretics or weight-loss pills) and binge eating. Among teenage girls, but not boys, greater parental connectedness — with both mothers and fathers — was associated with lower odds of disordered eating in young adulthood.

For more information, see Vol. 17, No. 4 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.