title: Childhood body-focused behaviors and social behaviors as risk factors of eating disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The risk factors for adolescent eating disorders are poorly understood. It is generally agreed, however, that interactions with one's body and interactions with others are two important features in the development of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Therefore, we assessed a variety of childhood body-focused behaviors and childhood social behaviors in eating-disordered patients as compared to non-eating-disordered subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared 50 female inpatients with eating disorders (anorexia or bulimia nervosa), 50 female inpatients with polysubstance dependence, and 50 nonpatient female control subjects with no history of eating or substance abuse disorders (all defined by DSM-IV criteria), using a semi-structured interview of our own design. We asked questions about (1) childhood body-focused behaviors (e.g. thumb-sucking) and body-focused family experiences (e.g. bodily caresses), and (2) childhood social behaviors (e.g. numbers of close friends) and family social styles (e.g. authoritarian upbringing).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Many body-focused measures, such as feeding problems, auto-aggressive behavior, lack of maternal caresses, and family taboos regarding nudity and sexuality, characterized eating-disordered patients as opposed to both comparison groups, as did several social behaviors, such as adjustment problems at school and lack of close friends. However, nail-biting, insecure parental bonding, and childhood physical and sexual abuse were equally elevated in both psychiatric groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It appears that eating-disordered patients, as compared to substance-dependent patients and healthy controls, show a distinct pattern of body-focused and social behaviors during childhood, characterized by self-harm, a rigid and 'body-denying' family climate, and lack of intimacy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Innsbruck University Hospitals, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mangweth
authors.forename: Armand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hausmann
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Danzl
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Walch
authors.forename: Claudia I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Rupp
authors.forename: Wilfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Biebl
authors.forename: James I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.forename: Harrison G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Pope
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001828:Body Image; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D005195:Family Relations; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D012919:Social Behavior