Psychological characteristics of mothers of patients with anorexia nervosa: implications for treatment and prognosis.
BACKGROUND
The complexity of factors involved in anorexia nervosa (AN) and the recommendations of prominent health organizations underscore the importance of reflecting on therapeutic interventions aimed at patients' family members.


OBJECTIVE
To expand knowledge about the mother-daughter relationship in AN, with a focus on developing a conceptual framework that is able to improve the treatment of the disorder, reduce factors that perpetuate it and improve prognosis.


METHODS
A clinical method, anchored by psychodynamic references, was employed in a group of family members of patients with eating disorders. The group met weekly, and sessions were led by psychologists from the eating disorder outpatient clinic of a university hospital.


CONCLUSIONS
Common characteristics in the mother-daughter relationship in cases of AN were identified. The issue of mutual control, the dialectic between omnipotence and impotence, and the relationship of devotion, passion and annihilation between mothers and daughters are phenomena that form the basis of AN, with a direct influence on the severity of each case and on treatment success.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings allowed us to identify important aspects in the mother-daughter relationship in AN, which may improve the clinical interventions aimed at treating the disorder.
Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Lia Keuchguerian Silveira
LK
Campos
Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, UNICAMP.
Anna Beatriz Ribeiro Ferreira
AB
Sampaio
Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, UNICAMP.
Celso
C
Garcia Junior
Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, UNICAMP.
Ronis
R
Magdaleno Junior
Departamento de Psicologia Médica e Psiquiatria, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, UNICAMP.
Maria Marta de Magalhães
MM
Battistoni
Departamento de Psicologia Médica e Psiquiatria, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, UNICAMP.
Egberto Ribeiro
ER
Turato