Eating disorder patients and their parents: A comparison with substance abusing families.

Abstract

The present study investigated associations between diagnostic group and perception of family functioning. Forty-three female subjects (9 anorectics, 20 bulimics, and 14 substance abusers) were administered the Family Environment Scale. Since substance abusing subjects were found to be significantly older than the other two groups, scores on the Family Environment Scale were corrected for age using a regression procedure. Logistic regression was then used to predict group membership from scores on the Family Environment Scale. Results showed that bulimics rate their families higher on active/recreational orientation than anorectics. Bulimics also rate their families higher on achievement orientation than substance abusing subjects. No significant differences were found between anorectics and substance abusers in their perceptions of family. An inverse relationship was found between age and amount of perceived family cohesion in the substance abuse group. Implications of these results for understanding differences between these diagnostic groups are discussed, and suggestions for further research are presented.