Perceived parental bonding in anorectic and bulimic patients

Psychodynamic clinical studies as well as empirical research have pointed out the importance and the specificity of object relations in eating disorders. Given this, the aim of this work was to identify the presence of significant differences in the object relations patterns, as described by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), between anorectic and bulimic subjects. PBI was administered to 42 anorectic female and 26 bulimic female subjects, consecutively admitted to the Eating Disorders Outpatient Unit of H San Raffaele of Milan. Profile analysis revealed the presence of significant (T2 = 11.3453, d.f. 3,64, p = 0.017) qualitative differences in PBI profiles between anorectic and bulimic subjects. The most striking difference was represented by the bulimics' view of their parents as both caring and overwhelming, which contrasted with the anorectics' perception of their parents as absolutely caring.