The present study examined the role of attachment toward mother and father as a predictor of eating pathology and weight gain among preadolescent boys and girls. Self-report questionnaires and adjusted body mass index (BMI) were administered from a community sample of 601 preadolescents (8–11 years; 48% female) at baseline and once again 1 year later. Significant baseline associations were found between attachment toward both parents and several features of eating pathology. No baseline correlations were found between the attachment variables and adjusted BMI. However, after controlling for gender and baseline levels of eating pathology and weight, an insecure attachment toward mother significantly predicted increases in dietary restraint, eating concerns, weight concerns, and shape concerns, and adjusted BMI in the children 1 year later. An insecure attachment toward father was predictive for persistence in children's subjective binge eating episodes. The present study provides preliminary evidence for the longitudinal association between attachment and eating pathology and weight gain in preadolescents. Moreover, attachment toward mother and attachment toward father appear to be differently associated with their children's disordered eating attitudes and adjusted BMI. Future research should further elucidate the mechanisms underlying this differential association.

The objective of this article was to investigate the prevalence and psychological correlates of binge eating among adolescents. Self-report questionnaires were administered to a community sample of 708 adolescents (M _age = 14 years). Adolescents reporting loss of control over eating (17% of the sample) reported more eating pathology and more general maladjustment compared to those without loss of control. The combined presence of subjective and objective binge episodes was related to the most severe pattern of eating pathology. The results suggest that loss of control over eating is a relatively frequent experience among adolescents from the general population and it is related to eating pathology and maladjustment.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is defined as the repetitive, direct, and deliberate destruction of one’s body tissue without an intention to die. Existing cross-sectional research indicates that the association between maternal/peer attachment and NSSI is mediated by identity synthesis and confusion. However, longitudinal confirmation of the aforementioned mediation models is necessary as cross-sectional models are known to be biased. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether identity formation mediates the association between attachment and NSSI in a longitudinal design. Three waves of self-report questionnaires data (1 year apart) were collected on maternal and peer attachment, identity, and NSSI from students of a high school in Belgium (at Time 1: Mean age = 15.0 years, SD = 1.85, range = 11–19 years, 50.6% female). Both cross-lagged (between-person) and parallel process latent growth curve (within-person) mediation analyses were used to test the mediation models. Findings of the cross-lagged analyses indicated unidirectional associations among the study variables, that is, from attachment to identity to NSSI. Parallel process latent growth mediation analyses showed that the association between the slope of maternal attachment and the slope of NSSI was mediated by the slopes of identity synthesis and confusion. Peer attachment models did not fit the data. The current work demonstrated that dysfunctional maternal and peer attachment may lead to disturbances in identity formation, which, in turn, may lead to increased NSSI. Additionally, within-person analysis indicated that the growth rate of maternal attachment predicted the growth rate of NSSI through the growth rate of identity synthesis and confusion. The clinical relevance of these findings is discussed.