Table 1 Summary of Included studies (arranged in alphabetical order)
Author (year) | Citation | Aim | Design | Sample size | Sample characteristics | Familial stressors | Measure for family stressor | Measure for eating pathology | Findings/ results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ahmad, Waller and Verduyn (1994) | (43) | To investigate the role of perceived parental control in development of abnormal eating attitudes in British-Asian schoolgirls | Cross-Sectional | 71 | British-Asian females Secondary school Mean age = 14.9 years | Parental control | PBI (Parental Bonding Instrument) | EAT-26 questionnaire | Eating pathology significantly associated with low maternal care and high maternal overprotection. Significant association between bulimia scores and maternal overprotection. |
Bryant-Waugh and Lask (1991) | (40) | To examine the role of sociocultural conflict in families as a factor in emergence of eating disorders in British-Asian Anorexia Nervosa patients | Case series | 4 | British-Asian female Anorexia Nervosa patients 13–14 years | Parental conflict | Confirmed diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa | Cultural conflicts between parents and children were present in all four patients. | |
Chang, Yu and Lin (2014) | (48) | To assess ethnic variations in perfectionism, parental and peer influences, and eating disturbances among Asian and European American females | Cross-Sectional | 139 | Asian-American females Tertiary education 18–23 years | Parental expectations Parental criticism Direct parental influence on eating behaviour | Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS) Family History of Eating Questionnaire | EDI-3 questionnaire | No significant association between bulimic eating, and parental expectations or parental criticism. Direct parental influence on eating behaviour did not significantly account for variance in bulimic eating. |
Eisenberg et al. (2019) | (50) | To examine the association of weight-based teasing by family members with unhealthy weight control behaviours among adolescents from three immigrant communities | Cross-Sectional | 480 | Hmong American males and females Middle and High school | Family weight-based teasing | Yes/No survey | Questionnaire on unhealthy weight control behaviours | Hmong adolescents experienced significantly higher familial weight-based teasing than other ethnic groups. Significant association between family weight-based teasing and unhealthy weight control in combined ethnic group of girls, but not boys. |
French et al. (1997) | (42) | To examine ethnic differences in psychosocial factors associated with disordered eating | Cross-Sectional | 504 | Asian-American females Public school Adolescents | Family connectedness | Likert-scale questionnaire of psychosocial variables | Questionnaire on dieting, purging behaviours and binge eating | Low family connectedness was a significantly associated with bingeing |
Furnham and Adam-Saib (2001) | (46) | To investigate the relationship between disordered eating and perceived parental control in second-generation British-Asian schoolgirls | Cross-Sectional | 122 | British-Asian females Secondary school 15–17 years | Parental control | PBI | EAT-26 questionnaire | Maternal and paternal overprotection has no significant correlation with eating pathology, in combined Asian and White group |
Furnham and Husain (1999) | (38) | To determine whether parental conflict and parental overprotection is associated with eating pathology in British-Asian female students | Cross-Sectional | 55 | British-Asian females Undergraduate Mean age = 21.15 years SD = 2.18 years | Parental conflict Parental control | Likert-scale Parental Conflict questionnaire PBI | EAT-26 questionnaire | Maternal conflict over going out, Parental conflict over choice of friends and maternal overprotection were predictors of eating pathology |
Han (2020) | (30) | To examine the role of cultural and psychological factors as predictors of disordered eating among Asian and Asian American college women | Cross-Sectional | 244 | Asian-American females Tertiary education Mean age = 21.66 years SD = 3.35 years | Intergenerational conflict Parental attachment Family recognition through achievement | Asian-American Family Conflict Scale Experiences in Close Relationships-Relationship Structures Questionnaire Asian-American Value-Multidimensional Scale | Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) | Family recognition through achievement and Intergenerational Conflict are significantly associated with binge and restricted eating. Parental attachment avoidance and maternal attachment anxiety had no significant association with eating pathology. |
Haudek, Rorty and Henker (1999) | (45) | To explore the associations among ethnicity, parental bonding, acculturation and eating disturbance in Asian and white American weight-concerned women | Cross-Sectional | 25 | Asian-American females Undergraduate Mean age = 18.8 years SD = 0.87 years | Parental control | PBI | EDE-Q interview | Asian-American women perceived mothers as significantly less caring than white-Americans. Maternal care was negatively correlated with eating concern and eating restraint. |
Lee and Lock (2007) | (47) | To examine the clinical characteristics of phenomenology of anorexia nervosa in Asian-American patients in comparison to a non-Asian sample | Cross-Sectional | 16 | Asian-American male and female Anorexia Nervosa patients 12–18 years | Family functioning | Family Environment Scale (FES) | EDE-Q interview | Asian-American anorexia nervosa patients score significantly higher on family achievement orientation scale compared to non-Asian patients |
McCourt and Waller (1995) | (44) | To examine effects of perceived parental control in eating psychopathology at diff ages in adolescence | Cross-Sectional | 178 | British-Asian females Secondary school 12–16 years | Parental control | PBI | EAT-26 questionnaire | British-Asians had significantly higher eating pathology than white British. Maternal overprotection significantly accounted for difference in Asians’ eating attitudes compared to white British girls, once they reached 15–16 years |
Mujtaba and Furnham (2001) | (39) | To investigate if intergenerational conflict is related to eating disorder development | Cross-Sectional | 118 | British-Pakistani Tertiary education Mean age = 20.24 years SD = 1.78 years | Parental conflict | Likert-scale Parental Conflict questionnaire | EAT-26 questionnaire | British-Asian perceived higher parent-child conflict and eating pathology compared to the white-British and native Pakistani sample |
Tomiyama and Mann (2008) | (41) | To evaluate the validity of familial enmeshment as a risk factor for eating disorders across cultural value orientationsa | Cross-Sectional | 111 | Asian-American females Undergraduate | Family enmeshment | Edinburgh Family Scale (EFS) | EDE-Q questionnaire | Asian-Americans were the only racial group with no significant correlation between family enmeshment and eating pathology |
Yu and Perez (2020) | (49) | To examine how maternal criticism and individual body dissatisfaction may be associated with disordered eating pathology among different cultures | Cross-Sectional | 142 | Asian-American males and females Undergraduate Age ≤ 23 years | Maternal criticism | Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ), Likert-scale | EDE-Q questionnaire | Maternal criticism was a significant predictor of disordered eating in Asian-Americans, more saliently linked than White and Latinx group |