Mothers’ Experience Disclosing Their Daughters’ Eating Disorder to School Personnel
Abstract
Mothers of adolescent girls diagnosed with an eating disorder often face the difficult task of deciding when and how to disclose their child’s diagnosis to others. When doing so, they must consider their adolescent’s right to privacy and the potential stigmatization associated with disclosure. Consequently, mothers may be hesitant to share their child’s eating disorder, unintentionally limiting the school’s ability to provide additional support that could further promote their child’s recovery. This study sought to understand mothers' experiences disclosing their daughter’s eating disorder to school personnel and its impact on their subsequent interactions. The phenomenological qualitative study consisted of 20 semi-structured interviews with mothers of adolescent girls between the ages of 12 and 16 who had previously been diagnosed with an eating disorder. Participants described themselves as the primary individual involved in both the disclosure decision-making process and the disclosure experience itself. Their decision to share was closely related to their assessment of external forces including disorder severity and recipients’ ability to support. Regardless of the recipient's initial response to the disclosure, participants experienced a variety of system- and individual-level barriers to obtaining accommodations for their daughters, yet were able to reflect on the disclosure decision and/or experience in a positive light.
Subject Area
Psychology|Counseling Psychology|Mental health|Clinical psychology|School counseling
Recommended Citation
Abrahams, Jordyn, "Mothers’ Experience Disclosing Their Daughters’ Eating Disorder to School Personnel" (2023). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30995647.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30995647
