Perceived adolescent insecure attachment with mothers and fathers: links with food addiction, eating disorders, and weight status

The aim of this study was to test relationships between adolescent insecure attachment (anxious and avoidant) with mothers and fathers and three outcomes: food addiction, eating disorders, and weight status, in a large multi-regional sample of Czech adolescents. Anonymous, self-reported data were collected from 3,677 adolescents (1,688 boys, 45.9% and 1,989 girls, 54.1%). Both anxious and avoidant attachment with mothers were positively associated with food addiction (p < .001) and eating-disorder risk (p < .001). Importantly, avoidant attachment with fathers uniquely and additively explained variance in both food addiction (p < .001) and eating-disorder risk (p = .003), after controlling for maternal attachment. Weight status was unrelated to attachment and was predicted by sex and parental education only. Study findings highlight the salience of insecure attachment with both mothers and fathers for food addiction and eating disorders among adolescents and identify the parental relationship as a key potential preventative strategy.