Asian Values, Intergenerational Conflict, Needs, and Attachment in Asian/Asian American Women’s Disordered Eating

Abstract

I tested a path model that integrated cultural and psychological factors as predictors of disordered eating among Asian and Asian American college women. Asian values of honoring family through achievement and conformity to norms, and intergenerational family conflict due to acculturation gap were the cultural predictors. Psychological needs thwarting and anxious parental attachment were the indirect psychological factors through which the cultural factors predicted disordered eating. Two-hundred forty-four Asian and Asian American women participated in an online survey. Structural equation modeling analysis results indicated that the Asian value of honoring family through achievement and intergenerational family conflict were indirectly associated with both binge eating and restricted eating via thwarted psychological needs, but not via anxious parental attachment. The Asian value of conformity to norms was directly associated with restricted eating. These cultural factors need to be addressed when treating disordered eating among Asian/Asian America women.