Parent-daughter discrepancies in perception of family function in bulimia nervosa.
Eating disorders have traditionally been associated with disturbed family function. Most empirical data regarding this issue, however, were gathered from eating disorders patients. Attitudes, function, and inter-personal relationships were examined within 16 families with a member suffering from bulimia nervosa (BN) and compared to 16 matched healthy families. Perception of family function was significantly more derogatory in bulimic subjects than in their parents, while in control subjects and parents, perception was largely congruent. Subjects suffering from BN perceived their families as less cohesive, adaptable, and supportive than did healthy subjects. No such difference in perception of family function was observed between parents of respective groups. This preliminary study shows that parent-daughter discrepancy in perception of family function may prove more characteristic of eating disorder families than any particular deficit. Future research should aim to replicate these findings, incorporate them into treatment paradigms, and employ them to monitor treatment outcome.
Outpatient Clinic, Department of Psychiatry, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem. bonneo@intra.nimh.nih.gov
Omer
O
Bonne
Sharon
S
Lahat
Revital
R
Kfir
Elliot
E
Berry
Maor
M
Katz
Eitan
E
Bachar
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009147:Music Therapy; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted