"Det har varit ett krig" – Om föräldrars upplevelser av att ha ett barn med ätstörningar
(2014) SOPA63 20141School of Social Work
- Abstract
- The aim of this study was to examine parents’ experiences of having a child with eating disorders. Specifically the aim was to analyze the parental view on responsibility for nursing and the child’s recovery from the eating disorder, how the child’s eating disorder change and influence the relationships and interactions within the family and how the parents views on themselves have changed with the child’s eating disorders. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five parents, four mothers and one father, all of whom have a daughter who has an eating disorder. The age of the child and what kind of eating disorder the child has was irrelevant for the aim of this study. The parents were contacted via a non-profit eating... (More)
- The aim of this study was to examine parents’ experiences of having a child with eating disorders. Specifically the aim was to analyze the parental view on responsibility for nursing and the child’s recovery from the eating disorder, how the child’s eating disorder change and influence the relationships and interactions within the family and how the parents views on themselves have changed with the child’s eating disorders. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five parents, four mothers and one father, all of whom have a daughter who has an eating disorder. The age of the child and what kind of eating disorder the child has was irrelevant for the aim of this study. The parents were contacted via a non-profit eating disorders association in southern Sweden. The analysis was based on the dramaturgical theory by Goffman. I found that the parents’ experiences vary depending on the definition of the role as a parent. While some parents saw responsibility for nursing and the child’s recovery as a natural part of the role as a parent, others saw that the responsibility lay with the public mental health services. The parents all agreed that the child’s eating disorder affected all family members. Although some parents argued that the relationships within the family were strengthened, it’s clear that the child’s eating disorder challenged ingrained family patterns. Whether the parents chose to tell the relatives and friends about the disease or not was crucial to the parents’ social life, because silence often led to that the parents isolated themselves to protect their child, while openness led to the parents received valuable support from friends and family. It was clear that it can be exhausting to be a parent to a child with eating disorders, which increased the need to occasionally be able to exhale and step out of the role as a responsible parent. Despite that all the parents found it very stressful to have a child with a dangerous, self-destructive disease, many of them found that the whole situation after all contributed to some positive experiences, such as that they received a greater understanding and empathy for others, and that they became more responsive and patient. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4460441
- author
- Berg, Maria LU
- supervisor
-
- Anett Schenk LU
- organization
- alternative title
- ”It has been a war” – About parents experiences of having a child with eating disorders [translated title]
- course
- SOPA63 20141
- year
- 2014
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Eating disorders, Parents, The parental experience, Roles, Relationships
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 4460441
- date added to LUP
- 2014-06-13 14:43:00
- date last changed
- 2014-06-13 14:43:00
@misc{4460441,
abstract = {{The aim of this study was to examine parents’ experiences of having a child with eating disorders. Specifically the aim was to analyze the parental view on responsibility for nursing and the child’s recovery from the eating disorder, how the child’s eating disorder change and influence the relationships and interactions within the family and how the parents views on themselves have changed with the child’s eating disorders. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five parents, four mothers and one father, all of whom have a daughter who has an eating disorder. The age of the child and what kind of eating disorder the child has was irrelevant for the aim of this study. The parents were contacted via a non-profit eating disorders association in southern Sweden. The analysis was based on the dramaturgical theory by Goffman. I found that the parents’ experiences vary depending on the definition of the role as a parent. While some parents saw responsibility for nursing and the child’s recovery as a natural part of the role as a parent, others saw that the responsibility lay with the public mental health services. The parents all agreed that the child’s eating disorder affected all family members. Although some parents argued that the relationships within the family were strengthened, it’s clear that the child’s eating disorder challenged ingrained family patterns. Whether the parents chose to tell the relatives and friends about the disease or not was crucial to the parents’ social life, because silence often led to that the parents isolated themselves to protect their child, while openness led to the parents received valuable support from friends and family. It was clear that it can be exhausting to be a parent to a child with eating disorders, which increased the need to occasionally be able to exhale and step out of the role as a responsible parent. Despite that all the parents found it very stressful to have a child with a dangerous, self-destructive disease, many of them found that the whole situation after all contributed to some positive experiences, such as that they received a greater understanding and empathy for others, and that they became more responsive and patient.}},
author = {{Berg, Maria}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{"Det har varit ett krig" – Om föräldrars upplevelser av att ha ett barn med ätstörningar}},
year = {{2014}},
}