Dependency and eating disorders in female psychiatric inpatients.
Research indicates that oral dependent and eating-disordered individuals have similar personality traits, attitudes, and behaviors, suggesting that dependency may be a factor in the dynamics of anorexia and bulimia. To investigate this issue, we compared the proportions of dependent and food-related percepts in the Rorschach protocols of matched samples of eating-disordered (N = 16), obese (N = 18), and non-eating-disordered, normal-weight female psychiatric inpatients (N = 17). Eating-disordered patients reported significantly more dependent Rorschach imagery than did obese or normal-weight control patients, but no difference in the proportion of food-related imagery was found among the three groups. These results support the hypothesis that unresolved dependency issues underlie anorexia and bulimia.
Bornstein
R F
RF
Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania 17325.
Greenberg
R P
RP
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D001835:Body Weight; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D009913:Oral Stage; D012392:Rorschach Test; D014888:Wechsler Scales