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Differences in family functioning among bulimics, repeat dieters, and nondieters
Author(s) -
McNamara Kathleen,
Loveman Carol
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(199007)46:4<518::aid-jclp2270460421>3.0.co;2-e
Subject(s) - psychology , dysfunctional family , clinical psychology , developmental psychology
This article examined bulimics' ( n = 31) perceptions of how their families function relative to a group of women at risk for developing bulimia (repeat dieters) ( n = 61) and a group not at risk for an eating disorder (nondieters) ( n = 59). The results indicated that bulimics perceive their families to be more dysfunctional than do repeat dieters or nondieters. The bulimics reported poorer general family functioning, more affective involvement, less affective responsiveness, poorer family communication, poorer problemsolving skills, and poorer behavior control. The hypothesis that repeat dieters would evidence more family dysfunction relative to the nondieters was not supported. The results are discussed in terms of how family variables may contribute etiologically to bulimia.