Anorexia Nervosa: Divergent Validity of a Prototype Narrative (original) (raw)
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Anorexia nervosa: divergent validity a prototype narrative among anorexia relatives
2006
The objective of this ex post facto study was to test the divergent validity (degree of discrimination) of anorexia prototype narrative according to anorectic close confidents (relatives), as well as explore different characteristics of the participants which may be associated with the degree of prototype discrimination. Sixty-four relatives of individuals with anorexia nervosa participated in the study and were asked to indicate their degree of identification, according to their relative, with five different narrative prototypes (depressive, agoraphobia, anorexic, alcoholic, and drug addiction prototypes). Results did not confirm the divergent validity of the anorexic prototype narrative. The participants tended to identify primarily their relative with the agoraphobia prototype. Once again, no significant differences were found between the identification with the anorexic prototype and depression, agoraphobia and alcoholism prototype. The only significant differences found were for the comparison between the anorexic and drug addiction prototype. However, anorectic mothers and illness duration were found to be associated with the degree of identification of prototype narrative. Results were discussed in terms of a systemic versus a prototype approach to the eating disorders.
Psychoanalytic Psychology, 2013
Extensive clinical reports and a few empirical investigations indicate that a disrupted relationship with mother and a distorted sense of self are central to Anorexia Nervosa (AN). The present study explores these observations further using the Differentiation-Relatedness Scale (D-RS) to compare AN patients' descriptions of mother, father, and self with those of matched general psychiatric (PC) and nonclinical controls (NC). Results indicate that the AN group is distinguished from the PC group by significantly lower D-R (Differentiation-Relatedness) for mother, and significantly higher D-R for self, as well as a tendency for greater DEQ Self-Criticism (p Ͻ .05, one-tailed). Stepwise discriminant analysis indicates that an equation of D-R Self, D-R Mother, and DEQ Neediness, as well as the interaction of D-R Mother and DEQ Neediness, significantly (p Ͻ .0001) discriminates 80.5% of the total sample (66.7% of the AN, 73.3% of the PC, and 87.2%
Follow-up investigation of family relations in patients with anorexia nervosa
1996
In a group of 22 formerly anorectic inpatients (follow-up 3.8 years after treatment) and in a control group of 24 paralleled young women, the subjective perception of the family structure was assessed using the "Subjective Family Image (SFI)', in order to investigate the question whether the family structure of former anorectics differs from the controls and whether individual development of the former inpatients is associated with the experienced family structure. Empirical results are in favor of the following two hypotheses: 1) Compared to the control group, formerly anorectic inpatients experience family relationships as more corn-plicated and less satisfying. The quality of family relationships in the patient group is reduced, even at the time of follow-up. 2) Individual outcome (individual course of the illness) and quality of family relationships at time of follow-up are associated. Patients with a good outcome experience family relationships as more positive than patients with a poor outcome. The accordance of these findings to other empirical results and their implications for clinical practice are discussed.
BJPsych Open, 2021
Background Anorexia nervosa is a serious health problem worldwide. The literature widely recognises the roles of the family and caregivers in modulating the onset, development, maintenance and treatment of this disorder. However, few studies have addressed the problem from the perspective of maternal caregivers. Aims This study aims to fill this gap by exploring how the meaning given to the term ‘eating disorder’ influences how mothers communicate with each other about a family member's health problems, how they present symptoms and how this problem is managed. Method A narrative research project was conducted to capture the mothers’ experiences of living with a daughter diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. In particular, four semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the ways in which they made sense of the disorder, their roles in treatment and their daughters’ treatment experiences. Results The results show that the ways in which mothers characterise the disease guide ...
Journal of Health Psychology, 2009
This study aims to examine the relation between the degree of dissimilarity in patients' and relatives' perception of eating disorders (ED) and patient adjustment. Sixty ED patients and their relatives were interviewed. They completed the Spanish version for ED of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R). Patients who agreed with their relatives that their illness was highly distressful, a chronic condition and with high identity, showed higher psychological distress than patients who did not agree with their relatives. When patients and relatives had fairly positive perceptions of illness controllability and curability, these patients showed lower levels of depression and anxiety.
This ex post facto study explored the differences in perceived family characteristics between a group of 34 female patients with anorexia nervosa and 34 females without eating pathology. All participants filled out the following self-report scales: FACES II, F-COPES, IPPA and the Family Beliefs Questionnaire. The results showed that, in contrast with participants without pathology, patients perceived their families as less cohesive and less capable of redefining stressful events in order to make them more manageable. However, they perceived their families as being more able to acquire and accept help, and presented more family beliefs related to a sense of an individual responsibility/ self-blaming. In addition, patients seemed to trust less their mothers and peers and to communicate less with their peers, and to show more detachment to mothers, fathers, and peers. Of all studied variables, detachment from friends and mother, as well as perceived higher family capacity to seek out c...
Psychological Profiles of Women with a Past or Present Diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa
The Internet Journal of Mental Health
Objective: To examine the relationship between anorexia nervosa (AN) subtype, recovery status, and personality profile. Methods: 195 women with lifetime AN (17 ill, 107 partially recovered, 71 recovered) and 242 controls completed measures of obsessiveness, perfectionism, fear of failure, endorsement of the thin ideal, self-esteem, harm avoidance, novelty seeking, persistence, and reward dependence. Results: Subtypes differed only on novelty seeking (lower for restricting AN). Controls differed significantly in the expected direction from all AN groups on almost all variables. Group scores (except persistence and novelty seeking) were ranked linearly from highest to lowest in the order of ill women, partially recovered, recovered, and then controls. Conclusion: Personality traits of women recovered from AN differ from those of controls (and may be premorbid risk factors), possibly predict prognosis, and may regress to the mean to some extent with recovery. Personality may both predict and correlate with AN; there is an urgent need for longitudinal research to confirm this. Note: Rachel Bachner-Melman and Ada H. Zohar have equal authorship. extend a special thanks to all participants for their time and effort.
Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 2012
INTRODUCTION: The complexity of factors involved in anorexia nervosa (AN) and the recommendations of prominent health organizations underscore the importance of reflecting on therapeutic interventions aimed at patients' family members. OBJECTIVE: To expand knowledge about the mother-daughter relationship in AN, with a focus on developing a conceptual framework that is able to improve the treatment of the disorder, reduce factors that perpetuate it and improve prognosis. METHOD: A clinical method, anchored by psychodynamic references, was employed in a group of family members of patients with eating disorders. The group met weekly, and sessions were led by psychologists from the eating disorder outpatient clinic of a university hospital. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Common characteristics in the mother-daughter relationship in cases of AN were identified. The issue of mutual control, the dialectic between omnipotence and impotence, and the relationship of devotion, passion and annihil...
Psychiatria Danubina, 2016
One of the most serious problems faced by researchers studying eating disorders is denial of illness in individuals with anorexia nervosa. Importantly, the term "denial" not only has different meanings, but in the case of anorexia nervosa its very nature still remains obscure. It is not even known whether it is deliberate or unintentional. Denial of illness in anorexic patients has serious consequences for evaluation of the reliability of information obtained from those individuals. Indeed, the most frequently used screening questionnaires, such as the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) (Garner & Garfinkel 1979) and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) (Garner et al. 1983), may not reflect the psychological state of the subjects due to distorted responses. The objective of this review article is to elucidate, at least in part, the nature of denial of illness in anorexic individuals and, importantly, to present methods for direct or indirect measurement of this variable. The authors emphasize the detrimental effect of denial of illness on the quality of information obtained from the patients and the notorious unreliability of self-report data. The final part of the paper contains suggestions as to methods of bypassing the pitfalls associated with the influence of denial of illness on the results of studies involving anorexic individuals; for instance, it is recommended that one should build an honest and trustful relationship with the patient. Last but not least, the focus is placed on the potential of experimental psychology, which offers tools producing robust data, resistant to deliberate distortion by patients.