Abstract
Questionnaires were prepared using key words frequently heard from patients with respect to "past experience"and "child-rearing attitudes of parents"in order to investigate familial factors involved in the occurrence of eating disorders. With respect to "past experience", a comparative study was conducted between the norm l group and the entire patient group. As a result, the frequencies with which "parent separation or divorce"and "discord between parents"were experienced were significantly higher in comparison with the normal group. In addition, when a similar study was made according to illness type, similar results were obtained for the ANbp and BN groups. Differences were observed in items that included family dissension and confusion. Factor analysis was performed on reply results for "child-rearing attitudes of parents". Four factors were extracted and they were named "unable to get close to mother and lonely", "lack of communication with father", "afraid of father or critical father"and "good child" based on their contents. The differences in scores between groups were tested using the Mann-Whitney U-test. The first factor, "unable to get close to mother and lonely", exhibited significantly higher scores throughout the entire patient group as well as in the ANr, ANbp and BN groups in comparison with the normal group. In addition, the second factor, "lack of communication with father", exhibited significantly higher scores throughout the entire patient group and in the BN group in comparison with the normal group. No significant difference was obtained in the other factors among the groups. In order to extract those factors that predict the occurrence of eating disorders, logistic regression analysis was performed. With respect to the patient group overall, both "unable to get close to mother and lonely"and "lack of communication with father"were extracted as risk factors. In the ANr group, "unable to get close to mother and lonely"was extracted. In the ANbp group and BN group, "parent separation or divorce"and "discord between parents"were extracted, respectively, in addition to "unable to get close to mother and lonely". Based on these findings, it revealed that both "unable to get close to mother and lonely", and "lack pf communication with father" were the most strongly affecting familial risk factors. Thus, the need to review the correlation between this disease and the role of the father was reaffirmed. Furthermore, since items of past experience such as "discord between parents"and "parent separation or divorce"were extracted in the ANbp and BN patients, symptoms of "binge eating"may indicate the possibility of having significance as a coping behavior for stressful conditions in their homes. It seems necessary to increase the number of patients and to further evaluate whether these extracted factors are disease-specific and/or have different contents in each subtype of eating disorders.
