Parental overcontrol is associated with dysmorphic concern severity: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Dysmorphic concern (DC) is a symptom affecting both clinical and non-clinical populations, with a severe impact on individuals' physical and psychological well-being. While Childhood Trauma (CT) has been identified as a risk factor for DC, there is a lack of research on a specific form of CT, that is, parental overcontrol. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the association between DC and parental overcontrol in a community sample of adults, controlling for other forms of CT and potential confounding variables.

Method: 714 adults (508 females; mean age: 30.29 ± 11.67 years; age range: 18-77) participated in an online survey including the Body Image Concern Inventory (BICI), the Overcontrol subscale of the Measure Of Parental Style, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire - Short Form (CTQ-SF).

Results: Parental overcontrol was independently associated with DC symptoms (β = 0.111; p = .005; CI = [0.119;0.666]), even after controlling for other forms of CT and sociodemographic and clinical confounding variables.

Limitations: The cross-sectional design of the study, the unbalanced sex ratio, the retrospective self-reported data about parental overcontrol and CT should be considered.

Conclusions: This finding suggests that parental overcontrol may play a role in the development and maintenance of DC symptoms, remarking the urge to take more into account parental overcontrol in the assessment of CT.

Keywords: Childhood trauma; Dysmorphic concern; Parental overcontrol; Parental overprotection; Psychopathology.