Psychological Distress as a Mediator of the Relation Between Perceived Maternal Parenting and Normative Maladaptive Eating Among Adolescent Girls Elizabeth H. Blodgett Salafia, Dawn M. Gondoli, Alexandra F. Corning, Amanda M. McEnery, and Amber M. Grundy University of Notre Dame Burgeoning research on the adolescent (e.g., middle-school) years suggests that this is a particularly vulnerable period for the development of maladaptive eating patterns. Prior research has established a link between perceptions of maternal parenting practices and adolescent onset of problematic eating behaviors. The authors hypothesized that adolescents’ internalized psychological distress accounts for this relation, and they tested this hypothesis via a longitudinal, mediational study of 73 adolescent girls followed from 6th to 8th grade. Results of structural equation modeling using latent variables supported the hypothesis, identifying a time-ordered process that emphasizes the significance of the mother– adolescent relationship and the importance of targeting counseling interventions at improving parenting practices and helping adolescents to regulate negative affect as a means of preventing the development of maladaptive eating. Keywords: parenting, adolescence, psychological distress, eating disorder, middle school The prevalence of eating disorders is on the rise, and problem- atic eating- and body-related behaviors and attitudes are increasing particularly rapidly among adolescents (Eisele, Hertsgaard, & Light, 1986; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). In attempting to identify potential risk factors, researchers generally work within a broad “biopsychosocial” framework (Po- livy & Herman, 2002, p. 191), with familial factors receiving much attention. In fact, parenting style long has been cited as a partic- ularly important influence in the development of eating distur- bances among adolescents (e.g., Bowen, 1978; Bruch, 1985; Minuchin, Rosman, & Baker, 1978). Empirical studies support theorized associations between di- mensions of parenting and symptoms of maladaptive eating in both clinical and nonclinical samples. In particular, parents of adoles- cents with eating disorders have difficulty promoting healthy in- dividuation within their families, often failing to balance consistent acceptance with appropriate autonomy promotion (Minuchin et al., 1978). For example, in a nonclinical sample of 5th- through 8th-grade girls, adolescents’ perceptions of greater acceptance and emotional support from mothers and fathers predicted lower levels of dieting both concurrently and over 1 year (Bastiani Archibald, Graber, & Brooks-Gunn, 1999). Among girls in 7th and 10th grade, greater perceived maternal acceptance (e.g., warmth, em- pathy, and child-centeredness) was associated with lower levels of body dissatisfaction (Barker & Galambos, 2003). Furthermore, a recent longitudinal study revealed that among girls aged 12–16, deficits in emotional support provided by mothers and fathers combined (e.g., low parental companionship, intimacy, and affec- tion) predicted increases in body dissatisfaction over a 3-year period (Bearman, Presnell, Martinez, & Stice, 2006). Similar pat- terns have been revealed within clinical samples. For instance, in a sample including both young women receiving inpatient eating disorder treatment and first-year college women, those who de- scribed their parents as warm, supportive, and autonomy- promoting also described themselves as less preoccupied with weight and less frequently engaged in bulimic behaviors (Kenny & Hart, 1992). In addition, women struggling with eating disorders retrospectively reported significantly less care offered by their mothers and less independence given to them within the family environment (Mallinckrodt, McCreary, & Robertson, 1995). Although it is evident that associations exist between parenting and maladaptive eating, it is essential to examine the processes that may underlie such relations. Developmental psychopathology and attachment theory each suggest some likely processes, with both emphasizing the role of negative affectivity. Developmental psy- chopathologists generally posit that deficiencies in parenting lead to poor adolescent adjustment by interfering with the adolescent’s ability to appropriately regulate behaviors and emotions (e.g., Cummings, Davies, & Campbell, 2000). From an attachment per- spective, general parental insensitivity may lead to affective dys- regulation in the adolescent (Mikulincer, Shaver, & Pereg, 2003). In turn, maladaptive eating (e.g., restriction, purging) may be a form of coping with internalized distress or may reflect radical Elizabeth H. Blodgett Salafia, Dawn M. Gondoli, Alexandra F. Corning, Amanda M. McEnery, and Amber M. Grundy, Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame. This research was supported by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant 5R03HD41955-2 and by grants from both the College of Arts and Letters and the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame awarded to Dawn M. Gondoli. We gratefully acknowledge our colleague, Scott E. Maxwell, for his thoughtful contributions to this project. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Alexan- dra F. Corning, 118 Haggar Hall, Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556. E-mail: acorning@nd.edu Journal of Counseling Psychology Copyright 2007 by the American Psychological Association 2007, Vol. 54, No. 4, 434 – 446 0022-0167/07/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0022-0167.54.4.434 434 This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.