Father-daughter relationship in the context of eating disorders: a Winnicott perspective

Abstract

Eating Disorders (ED) are considered psychiatric conditions in which we observe severe changes in eating behavior. In literature, there is evidence that aspects of family dynamics influence the emergence and course of the disorder. There are several studies that analyze the mother-daughter relationship, being the father figure just a little mentioned. These fact are consistent with the social constructions of family in Western society: the father would be responsible for economic support and the mother taking care of children. Also consistent with psychoanalytic theories that put the importance of the father as interdicting the oedipal desires, but in earlier stages, his function in the care of children isn't mentioned. By contrast, Winnicott argues that, at each stage of emotional development, the parent has an important role in the maturation of the child. Whereas the father figure plays a key role in building the identity of the individual and is rarely addressed in the context of TA, this study aims to understand psychodynamic aspects involved in father-daughter relationship in TA context. The study is based on psychoanalytic theory, specifically, Winnicott's theory. Women with a diagnosis of TA and their parents (male parents) will be participate. Will be held a semi-structured interview and the procedure of Desenho de Família com História (DF-E) with each participant. Verbalizations will be audio taped with the consent of the participants. The interview material will be submitted to thematic content analysis. The data obtained from the DF-E will be analyzed using the evaluation method developed for this study. The contents obtained in the individual analyzes of father and daughter will be approximated in order to achieve relational aspects of the dyad. It is believed that this study will bring important information about the father-daughter relationship in the universe of TA, providing better care subsidies for families who experience this problem.