Psychological Explanations of AN - Family Systems Theory

Question 1

Family systems theory suggests

Answer 1

individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another but rather as part of their family as the family is an emotional unit. Minuchin identified key features of a typical anorexic family. A lot of them focus on the relationship between mother and daughter

Question 2

Enmeshment:

Answer 2

• Anorexic family members are overly involved with each other + spend a lot of time together + impinge on each other’s privacy and make assumptions for each other’s views.
• Individual identities become lost and instead an enmeshed family identity forms
• As a result, daughter struggles to have own independent distinct identity

Question 3

Autonomy and control (key mechanism that leads to AN):

Answer 3

• Enmeshment leads to the underlying triggers of AN and a feeling of loss of control
• Fuels a drive for acquiring autonomy and control (especially if mother and family members don’t accept daughter’s need for independance)
• Bruch: self starvation starts in AN as an attempt by the daughter to assert independence over own actions. The daughter loses significant weight to differentiate her identity from everyone else’s.
• The thinner she gets- more independent identity- more in control she feels over herself

Question 4

What does Bruch say about autonomy/control:

Answer 4

• Bruch: self starvation starts in AN as an attempt by the daughter to assert independence over own actions. The daughter loses significant weight to differentiate her identity from everyone else’s.
• The thinner she gets- more independent identity- more in control she feels over herself

Question 5

Other risk factors in AN:

Answer 5

• overprotectiveness
• rigidity
• conflict avoidance

Question 6

Overprotectiveness:

Answer 6

• Anorectic family members r obsessively involved in protecting each other from external threat
• Reinforces family loyalty + no room for independence. Mother sees her role as self-sacrificing to protect family members

Question 7

Rigidity:

Answer 7

• When problems arise = familial lack of flexibility to adapt to new situations.
• While facing problems, mother raises level of inflexibility and refuses to explore alternatives

Question 8

Conflict avoidance:

Answer 8

• In an anorectic family, steps are taken to suppress conflict from occurring.
• As a result, they are in a state of constant unresolved conflict, with intense conflicts abandoned before their resolution.
• As a result, a crisis may develop - the daughter might refuse to eat, or starve herself and the family still refuses if there is anything to face or discuss.

Question 9

Four evals:

Answer 9

+ supporting evidence
- refuting evidence
- misrepresents the role of family in the development of AN
- gender biased

Question 10

A strength of family systems theory explanation of anorexia nervosa is that there is supporting evidence for the role of families in the development of anorexia.

Answer 10

Manzi et al: demonstrated that supportive family interaction often led to family cohesion, often leading to positive outcomes for the psychological wellbeing among adolescents. On the other hand, enmeshment was often rooted in manipulation and control and had the opposite effect.

Since enmeshment has been proven to have a negative impact on mental wellbeing - it is plausible that it may contribute to the development of AN in some people.

This provides indirect yet indicative evidence of the role of the family in AN.

Question 11

A weakness of family systems theory explanation of anorexia nervosa is that research is inconsistent with assumptions of family systems theory.

Answer 11

Aragona et al: studied 30 Portuguese women being treated for eating disorders and found that their families were no more enmeshed or rigid than a sample of non-eating disorder affected families.

This shows that this research failed to identify a particular ‘type’ of anorectic family predicted by the family systems theory. Families with an anorexic member appear diverse in terms of social dynamics.

Reduces in validity.

Question 12

A weakness of family systems theory explanation of anorexia nervosa is that it misrepresents the role of family in the development of AN.

Answer 12

Carr: shown that there is evidence for the role of family in development of AN in adolescents as family-focused therapies have been effective.
However, le Grange and Eisler demonstrate that while these therapies work, the changes they implement are not linked to the factors outlined by the psychosomatic model.

This shows that while families play a part in development of AN, it is not through behaviours like enmeshment and lack of individual autonomy.

Therefore the model is incomplete and cannot apply to all instances of AN.

Question 13

A weakness of family systems theory explanation of anorexia nervosa is that it is gender biased.

Answer 13

Gremillion: claims there is a gender bias in family systems theory because this approach focuses almost exclusively on the mother-daughter relationship.
They argue that FST assumes that only the mother can engage in enmeshed interactions with the daughter, when in reality, any family member can do so. E.g. a father can facilitate enmeshment through being very controlling and demanding. FST ignores this.

As a result, therapies used to reduce enmeshment / anorexia will only target dysfunctional mothers and overlook the role of fathers in the development of anorexia.
Due to the gender biased nature of FST, it lacks generalisability in terms of understanding ALL anorexic individuals.
Lowers validity of FST