Puberty is a period of increased risk for the development of binge eating in female adolescents. Studies thus far have examined changes in genetic factors and personality characteristics that could contribute to increased risk, but none have examined parenting practices that are known to change across development and significantly contribute to youth outcomes (e.g., parent-child conflict, parental warmth, parental overprotection). The current study examines whether interactions between puberty and parenting predict higher levels of binge eating symptoms during/after puberty in female youth. Analyses used cross-sectional data in a sample of 999 female youth (ages 8-16) and their parents from the Michigan State University Twin Registry. Youth provided ratings of binge eating, eating in the absence of hunger, emotional eating, perceived parental care and overprotection. and pubertal development. Both youth and parents provided ratings of parent-child conflict. Although higher levels of parental overprotection and conflict, and lower levels of parental care, significantly predicted all binge eating measures, none of the associations were significantly moderated by pubertal development or age. The quality of the parent-child relationship is significantly associated with binge eating in female pre-adolescents and adolescents regardless of developmental stage, highlighting the need for targeting harmful parenting strategies during adolescent eating disorder intervention.
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