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Published on: May 14, 2018
Eating disturbances in siblings of patients with eating disorders
U Wunderlich1, M Gerlinghoff, H Backmund
1Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Therapy Center for Eating Disorders Munich, Germany. ursula.wunderlich@web.de
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether siblings of patients with eating disorders show a more disturbed eating behavior and a higher proneness to associated psychological characteristics than controls.
Method:
84 patients with eating disorders of an outpatient clinic, their siblings (n=84) and a control group (n=84) with an age range 14-34 for the total sample were evaluated using the Eating Disorder Inventory-2.
Results:
There was no significant difference between the siblings and the controls in disturbed eating behavior.
Discussion:
The existence of an eating disorder in patients does not seem to be related to the development of eating disturbed behavior in their siblings.
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