Parenting Stress in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa: Differential Stress in Mothers and Fathers During Inpatient Treatment

ABSTRACT Objective Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe psychiatric disorder that impacts both the adolescents themselves and their parents. Parenting stress is associated with impaired mental health of parents and poorer treatment outcomes for their children. Understanding the course of parenting stress during inpatient treatment and differences between mothers and fathers is important to improve AN treatment and (long term) outcome. Method Within a longitudinal controlled design, parents of adolescents with AN are compared to healthy children (HC) at three time points during and after their daughters' inpatient treatment (T1 = admission, T2 = discharge/+4 months, T3 = 6‐month follow‐up) regarding parenting stress. Mothers (T1: AN n = 29, HC n = 25; T3 (after dropout): AN n = 11, HC n = 18) and fathers (T1: AN n = 25, HC n = 22; T3 (after dropout): AN n = 9, HC n = 13) rated their parenting stress via the German version of the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and their own psychological symptoms via the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Diverse individual, adolescent, AN‐ and treatment‐associated characteristics were assessed and related to parenting stress. Results Within the AN group, particularly at admission, parenting stress of mothers was higher compared to fathers. Mothers of adolescents with AN had higher, while fathers of adolescents with AN had lower parenting stress scores compared to those of HC at inpatient admission. During inpatient treatment, parenting stress decreased in mothers and increased in fathers of adolescents with AN, resulting in no differences after inpatient treatment. Comparing mothers and fathers directly showed higher scores in mothers compared to fathers in the AN group. Parental psychological symptoms predicted parenting stress, as opposed to child or treatment associated factors. Discussion Parenting stress and the own psychological symptoms of parents should be considered explicitly in inpatient treatment of adolescents with AN. Furthermore, differences between mothers and fathers should be considered in future research and parent‐focused interventions.