Dr. Armand Hausmann – Ihr Psychiater in Innsbruck
Childhood Body-Focused Behaviors and Social Behaviors as Risk Factors of Eating Disorders
Publikationen (Erstautor oder Mitautor) von Univ.-Prof. Dr. Armand Hausmann
Background: The risk factors for adolescent eating disor ders are poorly understood. It is generally agreed, how ever, that interactions with one’s body and interactions with others are two important features in the develop ment of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Therefore, we assessed a variety of childhood body-focused behaviors and childhood social behaviors in eating-disordered patients as compared to non-eating-disordered subjects. Method: We compared 50 female inpatients with eating disorders (anorexia or bulimia nervosa), 50 female inpa tients with polysubstance dependence, and 50 nonpa tient female control subjects with no history of eating or substance abuse disorders (all defined by DSM-IV crite ria), using a semi-structured interview of our own de sign. We asked questions about (1) childhood body focused behaviors (e.g. thumb-sucking) and body-focused family experiences (e.g. bodily caresses), and (2) childhood social behaviors (e.g. numbers of closefriends) and family social styles (e.g. authoritarian up bringing). Results: Many body-focused measures, such as feeding problems, auto-aggressive behavior, lack of maternal caresses, and family taboos regarding nudity and sexuality, characterized eating-disordered patients as opposed to both comparison groups, as did several social behaviors, such as adjustment problems at school and lack of close friends. However, nail-biting, insecure parental bonding, and childhood physical and sexual abuse were equally elevated in both psychiatric groups. Conclusion: It appears that eating-disordered patients, as compared to substance-dependent patients and healthy controls, show a distinct pattern of body-focused and social behaviors during childhood, characterized by self harm, a rigid and ‘body-denying’ family climate, and lack of intimacy
Autoren: Barbara Mangweth, Armand Hausmann, Claudia Danzl, Thomas Walch, Claudia I. Rupp, Wilfried Biebl, James I. Hudson, Harrison G. Pope Jr.
