A dynamic systems perspective on parent-adolescent interactions V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A dynamic systems perspective on emotions expressed during an interaction between an adolescent with anorexia nervosa and their parent.
IRAS ID
323049
Contact name
Jessica Hafetz Mirman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
This study explores emotional flexibility during a parent-adolescent interaction in the context of an adolescent with a diagnosis of anorexia. Research has established that adolescents with anorexia often experience difficulties with a rigid way of thinking, and that the illness also impacts the wider family. However, there is a gap in the research in exploring parent-adolescent interactions in this context. This is important given the prevalence of family-based interventions and meal-time support which are often recommended and necessarily involve interactions.
Participants will be recruited through advertising in NHS waiting rooms, asking clinicians to distribute flyers, and through social media adverts. Adolescents aged 13–15 years old who have a diagnosis of anorexia and a parent willing to participate would be eligible. Participating parent and adolescent pairs would ideally need to attend the University of Edinburgh together, but there may be an option to complete the task online. They will be asked to work together for 10 minutes to attempt to solve a logic problem, followed by completing some self-report questionnaires. It is estimated that participation would take approximately 1 hour. The research is funded by the University of Edinburgh.
The parent’s and adolescent’s behaviour will be coded for positive, neutral, and negative emotions. The behaviour will be displayed on a 3x3 grid consisting of 9 cells, one for each emotion combination the pair could be in. Each time someone changes emotion, a new point is plotted in the appropriate cell, arrows join the points allowing the interaction to be followed. Certain properties of the grid are measures of flexibility and can be compared between parent-adolescent pairs and compared to the self-report data to explore associations between rigidity in different contexts.REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/WM/0241
Date of REC Opinion
20 Dec 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion