Journal of Health Sciences and Surveillance System (Jan 2021)

A Study of Alexithymia and Parental Behavior to Eating Attitude of Adolescent Girls Associated with Mediating Role of Body Checking Behaviors

  • Zohreh Hatami,
  • Fariba Hasani,
  • Roya Kochakentezar,
  • Fatemeh Golshani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.30476/jhsss.2020.87665.1119
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 32 – 38

Abstract

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Background: Having an appropriate appearance in adolescent girls is one of the important traits of adolescence that is affected by various psychological factors and causes the formation of different eating attitudes and behaviors. The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of body checking behaviors associated with alexithymia and parenting behavior to eating attitudes of adolescent girls. Methods: The research method was cross-sectional, descriptive-correlation based on structural equations. The statistical samples of the study included all female high school students in Torbat-e Heydarieh, Khorasan Razavi in ​​the academic year of 2018-2019 (N = 2832); of them, 390 were selected according to the Slovin formula and multi-stage cluster sampling. They filled out alexithymia questionnaires by Bagby et al., and parental rearing methods by Baumrind, and body checking by Reese et al. The obtained data were analyzed by regression equations using SPSS 23 and Amos 18 software. Results: The findings showed a positive and significant correlation between the variables of alexithymia, permissive, authoritarian parenting behavior and body checking behaviors with eating attitude; also, there was a significant negative correlation between the variables of assertive and authoritative parenting behavior with eating attitude (P<0.01). Also, eating attitude based on alexithymia, authoritarian and authoritative parenting behaviors could be directly and indirectly predictable through the mediation of body checking behaviors, and the research model was approved. It can be concluded that when alexithymia and parental behavior are combined with body checking behaviors, they have more effects on the intensity of eating attitudes. Conclusion: According to the results, training parenting methods and emotional skills affect the formation of positive attitudes about the body checking and creating normal eating attitude.

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