- CDC Cancels Measles Help for Texas Schools Amid Staff Layoffs
- CDC Shuts Down Key Labs for Hepatitis and STI Testing After Layoffs
- FDA May Shift Routine Food Inspections to States
- Supreme Court Case Targets Free Preventive Care Provided By The Affordable Care Act
- Biological Link Identified Between Heavy Weed Use And Psychosis
- Chemo Drug Effective For Kids With Sickle Cell Disease
- Lung Cancer Remains At Bay Long After Immune Therapy Is Dropped
- Early Signs Of Autism Might Appear In Infants
- Cutting-Edge Cancer Treatment Isn’t Known By Most Americans
- Child Concussion: What To Know If Your Child Takes a Blow To the Head
Over-Involved Mothers Tied to Women’s Poor Eating, Body Attitudes, Study Says

FRIDAY, Sept. 27Young women with critical, over-involved mothers are more likely to have disordered eating attitudes and poor social skills, according to a new study.
Disordered eating attitudes involve “body dissatisfaction and unhealthy weight control beliefs and practice,” the researchers explained. These attitudes are common among women in the United States, but do not always cause eating disorders.
The study included 286 female university students, average age 21, their mothers, and an adult sibling, all of whom individually filled out online questionnaires.
While family dynamics, such as conflict and control, can affect children’s emotional and social well-being, neither of these factors predicted daughters having poor social skills and disordered eating attitudes.
But having a mother who was overly involved and highly critical was directly related to such problems in daughters, according to the study published online Sept. 18 in the journal Communication Monographs.
“It appears that this corrosive form of family communication is particularly damaging to individuals’ sense of self and well-being, as it seems to promote a struggle for control and self-enhancement,” study lead author Analisa Arroyo, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Georgia in Athens, said in a journal news release.
“We believe that disordered eating can develop as a compensatory technique for dealing with social incompetence and negative emotions,” she added.
Parents are the main influences in the development of their children’s self-concept and social skills, the researchers pointed out. If parents focus on “healthy parent-child relationships and teaching their children effective communication skills, such social competence may serve as a protective factor in the development of psychological distress and disordered eating attitudes,” they concluded.
More information
The Nemours Foundation offers parenting tips.
Source: HealthDay
Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.