Exploring experiences of parents of individuals with an eating disorder

Background: Parents play a significant role in caring for children with an eating disorder (ED). This role contributes to carer burden, impacting on their wellbeing and ability to respond supportively to their child’s ED behaviours. No existing review focuses specifically on the emotional experiences of parenting a child with an ED, therefore this review aimed to synthesise existing research to explore parental emotional experiences of caring for their child with an ED. Method: 16 qualitative studies were identified through a systematic search of four online databases. Quality assessment of these studies was undertaken, and methodological concerns were discussed. Results: Through thematic synthesis, five themes were developed, providing insight into the emotional experiences of parents caring for their child with an ED: guilt, overwhelm, grief, isolation vs connection and gratefulness. Several of these themes also had relevant subthemes. Discussion: Parenting a child with an ED was challenging, resulting in significant distress. However, some parents also described personal growth through the experience. A theoretical model is proposed, linking parental self-criticism and guilt with parental distress and responses to ED behaviours. Research and clinical implications,and strengths and limitations of the review are discussed.