| Abstract [eng] |
manifest. Parents (family) are an element associated with the onset, development, and maintenance of eating disorder pathology. Moreover, in many cases, parents are the first to notice the initial symptoms of eating disorders in their child. In Lithuania and worldwide, there is a lack of qualitative research analyzing parents' experiences raising an adolescent with eating disorders and explaining more broadly the impact of this disorder on the parents' lives. This study aimed to reveal the experiences of parents raising adolescents with eating disorders. The study involved 7 women, aged between 37 and 52 years (M=44 years), all of whom were raising teenage daughters aged 15-17 years with a diagnosed eating disorder. A qualitative research design was chosen for this thesis. This study was conducted the months of July 2024 and March 2025. The resulting data were analysed by inductive thematic analysis according to Braun and Clarke (2006), following the six main steps of analysis recommended by these authors. After the inductive thematic analysis, 7 main themes emerged: 1) First encounter with eating disorders, 2) Emotional world, 3) Life turning point, 4) Rebooting everyday life, 5) Specialized help, 6) Social and emotional support, 7) Growth through crisis. In conclusion, the experiences of parents raising adolescents with eating disorders are characterized by the following features: eating disorders as a distant reality, the first signs, the most difficult beginning after diagnosis, searching for causes and solutions, emotional self-discipline and suppression of feelings, uncertainty and helplessness, an emotional burnout, silent guilt in parenting, unquenchable hope, a fragmented life, the disorder as the center of life, a break in life, challenges in family relationships, a chaotic everyday life, a control regime, the child's resistance to recovery, parenting in many roles, initial indifference in diagnosis, limited help, methods of help that do not meet expectations, teamwork with specialists, stigma in the environment, emotional and social isolation, financial burden, self-help, internal transformations, family rapprochement and making sense of the experience. |
