Family functioning and maternal distress in adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the nature of family distress in families of girls with anorexia nervosa (AN), this study compared aspects of family functioning in adolescent girls with AN to girls with a chronic illness and girls without a condition.


METHODS
Participants consisted of 25 adolescent girls with a primary DSM-IV diagnosis of AN, 20 girls with an ICD-10 diagnosis of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), and 20 girls from the community. Mothers and daughters completed questionnaires of family functioning and psychological symptoms.


RESULTS
When compared with mothers of daughters with IDDM, families of girls with AN experienced greater family conflict, reduced parental alliance, and increased feelings of depression. However, once the emotional impact of the illness on the mothers was statistically controlled, group differences were no longer significant.


CONCLUSIONS
Family distress and dysfunction may reflect an accommodation process that occurs in families living with a child with AN.
Sim
Leslie A
LA
Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, 200 First Street, S.W., Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA. Sim.Leslie@mayo.edu
Homme
Jason H
JH
Lteif
Aida N
AN
Vande Voort
Jennifer L
JL
Schak
Kathryn M
KM
Ellingson
Jarrod
J
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000523:psychology; D054541:Family Conflict / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012016:Reference Values; D020377:Self Efficacy