title: Marital status and eating disorders: an analysis of its relevance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study attempts to understand the clinical impact of marital status on the psychopathology and symptomatology of anorexia (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eating disorder (ED) patients (n=332, 198 BN and 134 AN) consecutively admitted to our unit participated in the study. All subjects met DSM-IV criteria for those pathologies and were female. Our sample was divided retrospectively into three subgroups based on their marital status. For the assessment, commonly applied questionnaires in the field of ED were used [Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40), Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), Bulimic Investigatory Test Edinburgh (BITE), Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SAD)].
  
  
  RESULTS
  2 x 3 (Diagnostic x Marital status) ANOVA and ANCOVA (with age as covariance) designs were applied in the current study. Our results suggested that ED patients who lived with a partner were significantly different with respect to the other ED patients in the following variables: higher age (P<.0001), higher motivation for change (P<.004), perfectionism (P<.03) and purging behavior (P<.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The main finding in this study is that ED patients who live with a partner are those who presented greater eating symptomatology and psychopathology but even higher motivation for change. Interpersonal functionality has to be considered in the development and maintenance of ED.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Modena, Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Debora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bussolotti
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fernández-Aranda
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Solano
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Murcia
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Turón
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vallejo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D017533:Marital Status; D009042:Motivation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012944:Social Support