Premium
An exploratory study of the impact of an adolescent's eating disorder on Chinese parents' well‐being, marital life and perceived family functioning in Shenzhen, China: implications for social work practice
Author(s) -
Ma Joyce L. C.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
child and family social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-2206
pISSN - 1356-7500
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2206.2010.00703.x
Subject(s) - psychology , exploratory research , anxiety , clinical psychology , quality of life (healthcare) , affect (linguistics) , marital status , depression (economics) , happiness , family life , social support , psychiatry , medicine , social psychology , psychotherapist , population , environmental health , sociology , anthropology , economics , gender studies , communication , macroeconomics
In this paper, the author reports the results of an exploratory study conducted in Shenzhen, China on how an eating disorder in an adolescent or adult child in the family would affect the parents' well‐being, quality of marital life and the perceived family functioning. Out of 33 patients suffering from eating disorders and referred for family treatment, 18 mothers and 15 fathers participated in this study. The data were gathered using a standardized questionnaire comprising three measures, namely the Symptom Check‐List‐90‐R, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Family Assessment Device. The results of the study have shown that the parents' well‐being was negatively affected, especially for the mothers, whose self‐reported depression and anxiety levels were higher than the fathers'. The parents also perceived family functioning to be less satisfactory since the onset of the disorder, with least satisfaction reported on Affective Involvement, Affective Responsiveness, Roles and Behaviour Control. However, the onset had no negative effect on the parents' marital life. Implications of the study for social work practice are discussed.