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Bulimia and fear of intimacy
Author(s) -
Pruitt Nlie A.,
Kappius Ruth E.,
Oorman Patrick W.
Publication year - 1992
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(199207)48:4<472::aid-jclp2270480407>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - psychology , clinical psychology , developmental psychology
Many authors have suggested that fear of intimate relationships is a central dynamic in bulimia. However, empirical studies have yielded conflicting results. Eleven women who met the DSM‐III‐R criteria for bulimia and 23 women who denied binging and/or engaging in purging behavior completed the Fear of Intimacy Scale (Descutner & Thelen, 1991). This instrument is the first instrument to measure fear of intimacy reliably and has been found to be valid for this purpose. As predicted, bulimic subjects evidenced significantly greater fear of intimacy than did control subjects.