ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on two clinical conditions, Infantile Anorexia (IA) and Post-Traumatic Eating Disorder (PTED). IA represents the diagnostic subtype that has been most investigated by clinical research in recent years. The most explored variables are: the child’s temperament and emotion regulation, mother–child interactions, and maternal psychopathology. Cross-sectional studies conducted on infants with IA, during the first two years of life, found temperament to be “difficult” compared to both picky eaters, and control children with normal growth and regular feeding patterns. In parents of children with PTED there is intense anxiety and concern: a dysfunctional and controlling parenting style during meal time characterized by very high levels of tension, conflict and poor reciprocity between adult and child that contribute to the maintenance of the child’s symptoms and in some cases to their further intensification. The main challenge for children with PTED is to resolve the intense fear of food associated with their traumatic experience.
