Object relations ego deficits in bulimic college women

Two types of bulimic (purging and restricting) and two types of non-bulimic (binging or normal) eating patterns were reported by 547 undergraduate women who also were assessed for ego function deficits on the four subscales of the Bell Object Relations Inventory. As predicted by psychoanalytic theory, the two bulimic subgroups appeared significantly more pathological on the Insecure Attachment subscale, which identifies ambivalent interpersonal relations and fear of object loss. When the four groups were ranked according to severity of type of eating disorder, a linear increase in group means and in the proportion of high scoring subjects was found on Insecure Attachment and also on the Egocentricity subscale, which indicates suspicious and manipulative attitudes toward others. Results are interpreted to support theories that relate eating disorders to disturbances in object relations ego functioning.