Abstract
The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) was administered to 62 adolescen female patients (mean age 14.3): 35 with restricting-type anorexia nervosa (RAN), and 27 with binge/purging-type anorexia nervosa (B/PAN) according to the DSM-IV criteria, all at onse and initial diagnosis. The PBI was also administered to a control group (55 subjects) and 22 patients with Crohn’s disease or celiac disease. The three groups were matched for age and socioeconomic status. The RAN and B/PAN patients gave significantly different interpreta tions of the parental bond (PB): for the former, it was adequate with both parents, for the lat ter it was inadequate, especially with the father. The fact that these differences exist at the onset of anorexia prior to any possible effect of therapy suggests that its structure is deter mined by different family dynamics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Selvini Palazzoli M.: Self-starvation. London, Chaucer, 1974.
Minuchin S., Rosman B.L., Baker L.: Psychosomatic families: Anorexia nervosa in context. Cambridge, M.A, Harvard University Press, 1978.
Humphrey L.L.: Structural analysis of parent-child relationships in eating disorders. J. Abnorm. Psychol., 95, 395–402, 1986.
Humphrey I.L., Apple R.F., Kirschenbaum D.S.: Differentiating bulimic-anorexic from normal families using interpersonal and behavioral observation system. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol., 54, 190–195, 1986.
Sours J.A.: Starving to death in a sea of objects: the anorexia syndrome. New York, Jason Aronson, 1980.
Strober M.: The significance of bulimia in juvenile anorexia nervosa: an exploration of possible etiologic factors. Int. J. Eating Disord., 1, 28–43, 1981.
Strober M., Humphrey L.L.: Familial contri-butions to the etiology and course of anorexia nervosa and bulimia. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol., 55, 654–659, 1987.
Garfinkel P.E., Garner D.M., Rose J. et al: A comparison of characteristics in the families of patients with anorexia nervosa and normal controls. Psychol. Med., 13, 821–828, 1983.
Santonastaso P., Saccon D., Favaro A.: Burden and psychiatric symptoms on key relatives of patients with eating disorders: A preliminary study. Eating Weight Disord., 2, 44–48, 1997.
American Psychiatric Association: Practice guideline for Eating Disorders. Am. J. Psychiatry, 150, 212–228, 1993.
Ainsworth M.D.S., Bell S.M., Stayton D.J.: Infant mother attachment and social development: socialisation as a product of recip-rocal responsiveness to signals. In: Richards M. (Ed.) The integration of child into a social world. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1975.
Main M.: A typology of human attachment organisation assessed with discourse, drawing and interviews. New York, Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Parker G., Tubling H., Brown L.B.: A Parental Bonding Instrument. Br. J. Med. Psychol., 52, 1–10, 1979.
Parker G.: Parental overprotection: a risk factor in psychosocial development. New York, Grune & Stratton, 1983, pp. 127–285.
Garner D.M., Olmsted M.P., Bohn Y., Garfinkel P.E.: The eating attitudes test: psychometric features and clinical correlates. Psychol. Med., 12, 871–878, 1982.
Derogatis L.R., Lipman R.S., Covi L.: The SCL-90: an outpatient psychiatric rating scale. Psychopharmacol. Bull., 9, 13–28, 1973.
Allison D.B.: Handbook of assessment methods for eating behaviours and weight-related problems. Sage Publications Inc., USA, 1995.
Russell J.D., Kopec-Schrader E., Rey J.M., Beumont P.J.V.: The Parental Bonding Instrument in adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa. Acta Psychiatr. Scand., 86, 336–339, 1992.
Gomez J.: Learning to drink: the influence of impaired psychosexual development. J. Psychosom. Res., 28, 403–410, 1984.
Palmer R.L., Oppenheimer R., Marshall P.D.: Eating disordered patients remember their parents: a study using the Parental Bonding Instrument. Int. J. Eating Disord., 7, 101–106, 1988.
Calam R., Waller G., Slade P., Newton T.: Eating disorders and perceived relationships with parents. Int. J. Eating Disord., 9, 479–485, 1990.
Steigher H., Van der Feen J., Golstein C., Leichner P.: Defense styles and parental bonding in eating disordered women. Int. J. Eating Disord., 8, 131–140, 1989.
Wilhel K., Parker G.: Reliability of the Parental Bonding Instrument and Intimate Bond Measure Scales. Aust. Psychiatry, 24, 199–202, 1990.
Steiger H., Goldstein C., Mongrain M., Van der Feen J.: Description of eating disordered, psychiatric and normal women along cognitive and psychodynamic dimensions. Int. J. Eating Disord., 9, 129–140, 1990.
Garner D.M., Garfinkel P.E.: Handbook of treatment for eating disorders. New York, The Guilford Press, 1997, pp. 327–354.
Guidano V.F.: L’organizzazione tipo dei disturbi alimentari psicogeni. In: Guidano V.F. (Ed.) La complessità del sé. Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1988, pp. 178–194.
Liotti G.: La dimensione interpersonale della coscienza. Roma, La Nuova Italia Scientifica, 1994, pp. 158–163.
Sharpe M.T., Killen J.D., Bryson S.W. et al: Attachment style and weight concerns in preadolescent and adolescent girls. Int. J. Eating Disord., 23, 39–44, 1998.
Main M.: Recent studies in attachment. In Goldberg S., Muir R., Kerr J. (Eds.): Attachment theory: social, developmental, clinical issues. Hillsdale, Analytic Press, 1995.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Di Pentima, L., Magnani, M., Tortolani, D. et al. Use of the Parental Bonding Instrument to compare interpretations of the parental bond by adolescent girls with restricting and binge/purging anorexia nervosa. Eat Weight Disord 3, 25–31 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03339983
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03339983