Maternal eating disorder history and toddlers’ neurodevelopmental outcomes: A brief report

Shiri Sadeh-Sharvit, Rachel Levy-Shiff, James D. Lock

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study explored the neurodevelopmental outcomes of toddlers whose mothers have eating disorder histories and the contribution of maternal eating and comorbid psychopathology to the children’s cognitive functioning. Twenty-nine mothers with prenatal eating disorders and their toddlers (18–42 months old) were compared to a case-control matched group of mothers with no eating psychopathology and their toddlers. Measures included current maternal eating and co-occurring psychopathology, and a developmental assessment of each child. The children of mothers with eating disorders showed delayed mental and psychomotor development. Severity of maternal eating disorder symptoms emerged as a significant predictor of child development, but other maternal psychopathology did not. Findings suggest that maternal eating disorder history may play a unique role in the development of neurodevelopmental functions in their children.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)198-205
Number of pages8
JournalEating Disorders
Volume24
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 14 Mar 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Taylor & Francis.

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