Update of Interventions Aimed at the Family Context in Eating Disorders: The Role of the Parents

Abstract

Caregivers of relatives suffering from an Eating Disorder (ED) often have health problems and stress associated to the caregiving experience. Most caregivers are parents, due the illness onset is during adolescence. This study aims to review the involvement of family factors in the etiology of eating disorders, to study the impact on health and their needs. To revise the main interventions aimed at psycho-educational or skills-based interventions for parents. The results show there are aspects of the families that can influence on the maintenance of the pathology as expressed emotion or accommodating to the eating symptoms. The results show the importance of intervening in these maintaining factors associated to caregiver role, and that coping skill interventions directly on family members that have shown good results both in the well-being of family members and in the eating symptomatology of the patients.