Marital Roles And Eating Disorders Research

It is shown in the study that many factors that occurred during the lifespan may affect whether a person continues having challenges with eating disorders. “Adult roles such as marriage and parenthood were associated with significant decrease in eating disorders later in life.” (Keel, et al., 2007, p. 1). When parenting roles begin, there is a greater focus on others rather than his or her appearance. When women and men are looking for a mate they tend to care more about their looks. They become more self-conscious and more aware of their body which can cause self-esteem issues if family and friends are not supportive (Belsky, 2013). Men and women may have challenges with eating disorders while not in a relationship because they may blame …show more content…
Males are traditionally the breadwinner and woman are more influence to take care of children and or have a lower paying, secondary job. Marital roles for a woman in this study was shown to strongly influence a decrease in eating disorder. They correlated that marriage and become a mother would significantly decrease the eating disorder score. Furthermore, woman that did not marry or become mothers showed significantly high scores of an eating disorder. Life events have a strong impact of personal growth. In reference to marital roles, males are also impacted by life events. It is shown that fathers tend to have a decrease in survey score under drive for thinness. However, no other life event was shown to decrease eating disorders in this study (Belsky, …show more content…
With this study they were able to trace whether a disorder will change or be influenced with life events. They have found that there are some factors that may correlate with the whether or not an eating disorder will continue as people age because of life changes. Although for certain cases, a person may not grow out of the disorder, the disorder may have lasting effects of their developmental growth. Eating disorders that are severe can cause malnutrition and an imbalance in diet. Malnutrition in adolescents can lead to further health problems in later life. The study shows how parenting roles and lifetime goals decrease the prevalence of eating disorders. The participants very well could have grown out of their eating disorders. As they aged, they would have had to take of other responsibilities. The focus was less on appearance and even less after marriage. The many responsibilities that come with aging can shift the focus