Editing Disordered eating (section)

=== Nuclear family environment ===
The nuclear family dynamic of an adolescent plays a large part in the formation of their psychological, and thus behavioral, development. A research article published in the ''Journal of Adolescence'' concluded that, “…while families do not appear to play a primary casual role in eating pathology, dysfunctional family environments and unhealthy parenting can affect the genesis and maintenance of disordered eating.”<ref name=":0" />

One study explored the connection between the disordered eating patterns of adolescents and the poor socioemotional coping mechanisms of guardians with mental disorders. It was found that in homes of parents with mental health issues (such as [[Depression (mood)|depression]] or [[Anxiety disorder|anxiety]]), the children living in these environments self-reported experiencing stressful home environments, parental withdrawal, rejection, unfulfilled emotional needs, or over-involvement from their guardians.<ref name=":0" /> It was hypothesized that this was directly related to adolescent study participants also reporting poor emotional awareness, expression, and regulation in relation to internalized/externalized eating disordered habits. Parental anxiety/depression could not be directly linked to disordered eating, but could be linked to the development of poor coping skills that can lead to disordered eating behaviors.<ref name=":0" />

Another study specifically investigated whether a parental's eating disorder could predict disordered eating in their children. It was found that rates of eating disorder appearances in children with either parent having a history of an eating disorder were much higher than those with parents without an eating disorder.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Bould|first1=H.|last2=Sovio|first2=U.|last3=Koupil|first3=I.|last4=Dalman|first4=C.|last5=Micali|first5=N.|last6=Lewis|first6=G.|last7=Magnusson|first7=C.|year=2015|title=Do Eating Disorders in Parents Predict Eating Disorders in Children? Evidence from a Swedish Cohort.|journal=Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica|volume=132|issue=1 |pages=51–59|doi=10.1111/acps.12389|pmid=25572654 |s2cid=5498797 }}</ref> Reported disordered eating peaked between ages 15 and 17 with the risk of eating disorder occurrences in females 12.7 times greater than of that in males. This is, "of particular interest as it has been shown that maternal ED [eating disorders] predict disordered eating behaviour in their daughters."<ref name=":1" /> This suggests that poor eating habits result as a coping mechanism for other direct issues presented by an unstable home environment.