Inconsistent Nurturing as Control Theory and Eating Disorders

Over the weekend I checked out a research article on how Inconsistent Nurturing as Control Theory (INC) applies to the connection between mother-daughter relationship's and eating disorders. According to the reading, INC looks at how a significant other acts in relation to an "afflicted individual", in this case the relationship between mothers of eating-disorder-affected daughters. The theory basically claims that inconsistency in how mothers treat their daughters has a strong affect on whether or not they will develop an eating disorder. After completing the study, the results backed up their hypothesis. If you would like an in depth look at what the study found, I have provided a link at the bottom, as I will now focus on what I thought of the study.

The application of INC theory to mother-daughter relationships has both strengths and weaknesses; the strength of the research is that it highlights that the issue is most likely family-related, and not genetic. This is an important distinction for further research as some have argued that these disorders may be personality-related, stemming from heredity. Some weaknesses of the study are sample size and accuracy. The sample size was small, as they discuss in their limitations portion of the research; it was limited to 40 women that were found through flyers that advertised the study on college campuses. Small sample sizes make it difficult to strongly validate statistical info, which plays into the accuracy issue. The accuracy of the results were also discussed, as the info was based solely on the "afflicted" women's account of the situations, and not on the mother's. This makes the answers somewhat unreliable. The study clearly has statistical weaknesses, but the general premise of the study was to show a correlation between mother-daughter relationships and eating disorders, and it achieved this.

There are some practical implications of this theory, as well as its findings; the findings demonstrate that eating disorders are more likely to be related to family issues, than a genetic personality issue that one has to cope with and overcome on their own. I find this extremely important for two reasons; I believe if one thinks that an issue is genetic, or inherent with who they are, then they feel they have no control of it. This leads to a lack of initiative to fix the issue and furthers the problem. Secondly, if research continues to show that family issues are amongst the highest factors that contribute to the problem of eating disorders, education to families, specifically mothers is paramount in attacking this issue. As far as practical implications of the theory, these findings pave a way for further research on addictive behaviors through INC theory. I think this theory could be applied to any behavior that has addictive qualities, ranging from addiction to drugs, to addiction to over-exercising. One interesting study that could come from this would be the relationship between father and son, and how that relates to addiction to video games.

The article was a thought provoking read that I would encourage anyone interested in family-dynamics to check out. While the study has statistical flaws, its real value lies in its ability to diagnose the leading factors that lead to eating disorders in young women, which can hopefully lead to further research and stronger statistical findings.

The study can be found here: 
https://my.oregonstate.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-4388423-dt-content-rid-31529081_2/courses/COMM_430_001_W2014/Prescott%20and%20Le%20Poire.pdf