Family bonds from the perspective of parents of young people with anorexia or bulimia: a qualitative study using the genogram

Abstract

Family contexts made vulnerable by severe mental disorders, such as eating disorders (ED), may have family bonds as a risk or protection factor. This study aimed to analyze the representations of family structure and organization and the bonding dynamics of background and constituted families from the perspective of parents of young people with anorexia or bulimia. The clinical-qualitative method and theoretical propositions of Linking Psychoanalysis were used. A genogram was applied to five participants. Data were analyzed by thematic analysis. The representations of bonding configurations that emerged from fathers’ discursive formulations showed numerous families of origin and bonding with the mother represented as welcoming and with the father as emotionally impoverished. In the constituted family, the marital relationship was characterized by a pattern of fusional complementarity; with the daughters, the bonding was represented as harmonious, which diverges from the literature. Being an heir of parenting models that are not very containing and show conflicting bonds shapes the way participants represent their experiences of parenthood.

Keywords:
father-daughter relationship; eating disorders; paternity; parenting; psychoanalysis of linking configurations