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Homogamy: the Relationships and Sexual Partners of Normal-Weight Bulimic Women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

J. Hubert Lacey
J. Hubert Lacey*
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE
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Abstract

This study reports the demography, weight, and alcohol and psychiatric histories of the sexual partners of 112 consecutive patients with bulimia nervosa, all from an urban catchment area. Seventy-three patients (65%) had a current sexual partner. The partners were of similar social background, but slightly older. On average, partners were overweight (110% of MMPW) and over 27% reported having an eating or weight problem. A quarter of the partners had been treated for a psychiatric or emotional disorder. Nearly 40% drank more than 36 units of alcohol a week, and 14% had received treatment or consulted a doctor for alcohol-related problems. Heavy-drinking partners and multi-impulsive bulimics sought out each other. A quarter of partners had themselves been raised in a nuclear family in which a member had received psychiatric treatment; 12% had had a mother or sister with an eating disorder. Thirty-seven per cent of patients used a ‘safe man’, their fear of being hurt stemming from low self-esteem and a general sense of ‘failure’, and for 11% the relationship was abusive.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 161 , Issue 5 , November 1992 , pp. 638 - 642
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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