The mediating role of emotion regulation difficulty in the relationship between balanced and unbalanced family functions with symptoms of eating disorders in adolescents

Eating disorders are among the most harmful psychiatric disorder, associated with important medical and psychological illnesses that cause significant personal, family, and social costs. The aim of the present study was to determine the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulty in the relationship between balanced and unbalanced family functions with eating disorder symptoms in adolescents. This study was a descriptive-correlational study. The statistical population of this study consisted of all adolescents 13 to 18 years old studying in high schools (first and second year) in Tehran in the academic year of 1997-98, of which 567 were selected as the sample group using convenience sampling and they answered the test of eating attitudes test (Garner & Garfinkel, 1979), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (Gratz & Roemer, 2004) and the Family Adaptability & Cohesion Evaluation scale (Olson, 2011). Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The results indicated a good fit for the research model. It was shown that the direct path of balanced and unbalanced family function to eating disorders is not significant but the indirect effect of unbalanced family functioning to eating disorders through difficulty in regulating emotion is significant (p = 0.001, β = 0.166). According to the results of the present study, it can be suggested that to intervene in eating disorders, instead of focusing on family functions, emotion regulation skills can be selected as the goal of treatment.