[Parent-child relations and sense of control in the perception of girls with anorexia]

The aim of this study was to look for any relationships between the parent-child relations and sense of control in the perception of girls with anorexia.

The examined group consisted of 30 girls aged 15-23 years, diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (ICD-10) and 30 healthy girls of the same age (15-23). Parent-child relations were examined using the Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire (PCR, A. Roe and M. Siegelman) and a belief in control with the use of Inter-External Control Scale (IE, J. Rotter).

Statistical and clinical analysis of the results obtained allowed us to formulate the following conclusions: (1) Mother-child relations as perceived by the girls with anorexia are ambivalent. (2) The fathers of the girls with anorexia are rated as being more rejecting and less loving as compared to the fathers of healthy girls. (3) There are differences between father-child relations and mother-child relations both in the experimental and the control group. (4) Compared to their fathers, the mothers are rated by the daughters from both groups as being more loving and protecting. (5) The patients' fathers are rated as being more rejecting than their mothers, whereas the healthy girls report more demanding fathers than mothers. (6) External control in girls with anorexia is connected with rejecting and hostile mothers. (7) Internal control in healthy girls is linked to the approving and loving mothers and fathers.