The interplay between parental psychological control and alexithymia in dysregulated eating behaviours

Introduction: Emotional eating is a behavior aimed at handling emotional states by using food intake that has been consistently related to eating disorders. Consistent findings highlighted that both parental psychological control and alexithymia are crucial aspects of dysregulated eating behaviours, thereby suggesting the importance of assessing these aspects deeply. The current study sought to test a mediation model of alexithymia (A) in the relationship between parental psychological control (PPC), eating disorders (ED), and emotional eating (EE). Methods: 200 participants aged between 18 and 30 years old (M = 22.77; SD = 2.97) filled a protocol comprising Psychological Control Scale (PCS), Alexithymia (TAS20), Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) and Eating Disorder symptomatology (EAT26). Path analysis was conducted to test a model with PPC as predictor variable, A as mediator, and ED and EE as outcomes. Results: The model showed good fit indices, χ2(6) = 130.68; p<.001, CFI = 1.00 SRMR = .00. Significant paths were found from PPC to A (β = .29) and EE (β = .16). In addition, significant paths were found from A to EE (β = .24) and ED (β = .23). Moreover, significant indirect effects were found from PPC to EA by A (β = .07) and from PPC to ED by A (β = .07). Conclusions: Parental psychological control represent a set of intrusive parental practices aimed at pressuring the offspring to comply with parental expectations. Given that psychological control exploits parent/youth interactions to control the offspring, it reasonable that lower emotional clarity may be less likely to occur. In the long run, this may be translated into maladaptive compensatory strategies to handle distressing emotions, such as dysreguated eating behaviours