Abstract

The paper examines the coparenting concept introduced empirically by McHale, but already identified by the "Family Therapy Pioneers". Recent international literature in the field of family relation had a growing interest in the construct of coparenting, but empirical studies on coparenting contribution in families with adolescents diagnosed with Eating Disorders are scarse. In this regard, the authors of this article provide an empirical exemplification through a research on families of adolescents with eating disorders. The results obtained through two tools, the FACES IV assessing family functioning and the SCL-90-R describing the psychopathological symptoms of family members, show that depressive symptoms and maladaptive imbalance in family functioning of adolescents with Nervous Anorexia, are influenced by contrasting dynamics between mothers and fathers. Result of this study empirically confirm what Family Therapy Pioneers (Taf., 2016) had intuited in their therapeutic work.