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Attachment Style and Family Functioning as Discriminating Factors in Eating Disorders

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Abstract

This study sought to examine the extent to which family environment and attachment styles are concurrently related to eating disorders. The Adult Attachment Scale and the Family Environment Scale were administered to 25 anorexic and 33 bulimic female patients at intake in an eating disorder clinic, and 37 age-matched female controls. Eating disorder patients were found to be less secure, more avoidant, and more anxious than controls. The families of eating disorder patients were found to be less cohesive, expressive, and encouraging of personal growth than were controls. Low encouragement of personal growth and uncertain attachment styles may be manifestations of family difficulties in supporting the child during the process of separation individuation, and exploration of the outside world.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Psychiatry, Eating Disorders Clinic, Rambam Medical Center, P.O. Box 9602, Haifa, 31096, Israel

    Yael Latzer

  2. Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Zipora Hochdorf

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Hadassah University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel

    Eitan Bachar

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Human Nutrition and Metabolism, Hadassah University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel

    Laura Canetti

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  1. Yael Latzer
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  2. Zipora Hochdorf
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  4. Laura Canetti
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Latzer, Y., Hochdorf, Z., Bachar, E. et al. Attachment Style and Family Functioning as Discriminating Factors in Eating Disorders. Contemporary Family Therapy 24, 581–599 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021273129664

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