Pace Cecilia Serena, Cavanna Donatella, Guiducci Valentina, Bizzi Fabiola
Department of Educational Science, University of Genoa , Genoa, Italy.
Front Psychol. 2015 Aug 12;6:1145. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01145. eCollection 2015.
In recent years alexithymia and attachment theory have been recognized as two parallel research lines trying to improve the information on the development and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs). However, no research has analyzed these constructs among patients' families. In this study we compared alexithymia and attachment in mothers of patients with EDs and a control group. Further, we hypothesized that mothers of daughters with EDs with insecure and unresolved states of mind will reported high levels of alexithymia. Lastly, we explored the daughters' evaluations of maternal alexithymia.
45 mothers of ED women and 48 mothers of healthy controls (N = 93) matched for age and socio-demographic variables were administered by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) (S), while two sub-groups of "ED" mothers (n = 20) and "non-ED" ones (n = 22) were assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Moreover, the Observer Alexithymia Scale (OAS) was administered to the daughters for evaluating maternal alexithymia.
Regarding alexithymia, no differences were found between ED and non-ED mothers according to the TAS-20, while ED mothers showed more unresolved AAI classifications than non-ED mothers. No correlations were found between the TAS-20 and the AAI. Lastly, ED mothers were evaluated more alexithymic by their daughters with the OAS than those in the control group, and their alexithymic traits were significantly correlated with dismissing states of mind (idealization and lack of memory) in the AAIs.
Our results highlighted an interesting discrepancy among mothers with ED daughters between the low level of alexithymia provided by their self-reports and the high level of alexithymia observed by their daughters, although the OAS showed severe methodological limitations. Maternal attachment states of mind characterized by the lack of resolution of past losses could be connected to a confusing and incoherent quality of parenting.
近年来，述情障碍和依恋理论已被视为两条并行的研究路线，旨在增进对饮食失调（EDs）发展和维持机制的认识。然而，尚无研究对患者家庭中的这些构念进行分析。在本研究中，我们比较了患有饮食失调症患者的母亲与对照组母亲的述情障碍和依恋情况。此外，我们假设，女儿患有饮食失调症且心理状态不安全且未解决的母亲，其述情障碍水平会较高。最后，我们探讨了女儿对母亲述情障碍的评价。
对45名患有饮食失调症女性的母亲和48名年龄及社会人口学变量匹配的健康对照者的母亲（N = 93）进行了多伦多述情障碍量表-20（TAS-20）测试（S），同时对两组“患有饮食失调症”的母亲（n = 20）和“未患饮食失调症”的母亲（n = 22）进行了成人依恋访谈（AAI）评估。此外，还对女儿进行了观察者述情障碍量表（OAS）测试，以评估母亲的述情障碍情况。
关于述情障碍，根据TAS-20，患有饮食失调症的母亲与未患饮食失调症的母亲之间未发现差异，但患有饮食失调症的母亲在AAI分类中显示出比未患饮食失调症的母亲更多未解决的情况。TAS-20与AAI之间未发现相关性。最后，与对照组相比，患有饮食失调症的母亲在OAS测试中被女儿评价为述情障碍程度更高，且她们的述情障碍特征与AAI中忽视型心理状态（理想化和记忆缺失）显著相关。
我们的研究结果突出了一个有趣的差异，即患有饮食失调症女儿的母亲自我报告的述情障碍水平较低，而女儿观察到的述情障碍水平较高，尽管OAS存在严重的方法学局限性。以过去损失未得到解决为特征的母亲依恋心理状态，可能与混乱且不连贯的养育方式有关。
