| Family environment has traditionally been viewed as having a central relationship to the etiology and maintenance of eating disorders. Previous empirical findings, however, have offered inconsistent support for commonly accepted theoretical assertions. Although theory has postulated characteristic differences between anorexic and bulimic families, previous studies have tended to treat eating disordered patients as a homogeneous group. The current study was designed to explore discrepancies between theory and research evidence, utilizing four distinct eating disorder categories, based on DSM IV nosology. This study also investigated the relationship between family environment and eating disorder outcome, an area which has been little addressed in the empirical literature.;One hundred ninety-five females meeting diagnostic criteria for anorexia or bulimia nervosa completed the Moos Family Environment Scale (FES), the most widely employed empirical measure of family environment. The FES scores of the eating disordered sample were compared to those of a normative sample of normal families. Eating disordered families were less cohesive, less emotionally expressive, more conflictural, less independent, and more achievement-oriente d than normal families. To distinguish the characteristics specific to eating disordered families, the FES scores of the eating disordered sample were compared to those of a normative sample of distressed families. Two variables remained significantly different: lower levels of emotional expressiveness and higher achievement-orientation in the eating disordered families.;Contrary to accepted theoretical views, no significant differences in perceived family environment were found between distinct diagnostic groups of anorexic and bulimic patients. This finding is striking given the conventionally held notion that prototypic anorexic and bulimic families have distinctly different psychological profiles. Also contrary to the commonly accepted assertion that family environment would influence eating disorder outcome even in adulthood, perceived family environment was not found to predict degree of recovery at two year follow-up.;This study found a distinct pattern of family environment for eating disordered patients, but calls into question the central theoretical view that family environment differs for the diagnostic subtypes of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Further, this study challenges the expectation that family environment would be a significant predictor of recovery from eating disorders. |
