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Investigation of ‘weight pathology’ of 58 mothers of anorexia nervosa patients and 204 mothers of schoolgirls

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Anne Hall ,
Julie Leibrich ,
Frank H. Walkey  and
Gary Welch
Anne Hall*
Affiliation:
Anorexia Nervosa Research Project, Department of Psychological Medicine, Wellington Clinical School, Wellington, New Zealand
Julie Leibrich
Affiliation:
Anorexia Nervosa Research Project, Department of Psychological Medicine, Wellington Clinical School, Wellington, New Zealand
Frank H. Walkey
Affiliation:
Anorexia Nervosa Research Project, Department of Psychological Medicine, Wellington Clinical School, Wellington, New Zealand
Gary Welch
Affiliation:
Anorexia Nervosa Research Project, Department of Psychological Medicine, Wellington Clinical School, Wellington, New Zealand
*
1Address for correspondence: Associate Professor Anne Hall, Department of Psychological Medicine,Wellington Clinical School of Medicine, Wellington Hospital, Wellington, New Zealand.
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Synopsis

‘Weight pathology’ – defined by Kalucy et al. (1977) as ‘deviations in weight, shape, eating behaviour and activity’ – has been hypothesized to be unduly common in families with anorexia nervosa. It was investigated in this study by means of questionnaires evaluating both weight history and attitudes towards weight-related matters in 58 mothers of anorexia nervosa patients and 204 mothers of schoolgirls of similar age and socioeconomic status (SES). No support was found for the hypothesis. A family history of aberrant weight and mother's current weight and past weight histories showed no significant differences between the groups. 142 other mothers of schoolchildren and 446 attenders at Weight Watchers also completed the questionnaire on attitudes towards weight-related matters. Mothers of patients showed a lower concern on all scales than did all other groups. The findings are discussed in relation to earlier controlled studies of family factors in anorexia nervosa.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , February 1986 , pp. 71 - 76
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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