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Burden and psychiatric symptoms on key relatives of patients with eating disorders: A preliminary study

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Abstract

Although eating disorders are serious illnesses that affect adolescents and strongly involve their families, no study to date investigated the burden of these families Forty relatives of 24 patients with eating disorders were assessed on subjective and objective burden, overinvolvement, hypercriticism and psychiatric symptoms. The subjective burden reported by the key relatives of patients with Anorexia Nervosa was significantly greater than that of the key relatives of patients with Bulimia Nervosa. Moreover, the relatives of anorexic patients scored higher for overinvolvement and psychiatric symptoms than the relatives o bulimic patients. The findings of the present study suggest the usefulness of treatment pro grams that include family counselling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 5, 35128, Padova, Italy

    Paolo Santonastaso, D. Saccon & A. Favaro

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  1. Paolo Santonastaso
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  2. D. Saccon
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  3. A. Favaro
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Santonastaso, P., Saccon, D. & Favaro, A. Burden and psychiatric symptoms on key relatives of patients with eating disorders: A preliminary study. Eat Weight Disord 2, 44–48 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03339949

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03339949

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