Eating Disorders
Family and twin studies have consistently demonstrated that eating disorders are genetic and that the observed familiarity is due fundamentally to genetic factors. These data suggest that the children of mothers with eating disorders represent a high-risk group for the development of later eating psychopathology. Children of mothers with eating disorders are more likely to experience perinatal complications, and exhibit altered feeding, eating and growth trajectories. Mothers with eating disorders are also more likely to show conflict with their infants during feeding interactions, are more verbally controlling during play and rate their five-year-olds higher on measures of negative affect. However, reduce is known about individual differences in their children’s early emotional and behavioural development.