The childhood and family background of women with clinical eating disorders: a comparison with women with major depression and women without psychiatric disorder

Background. Childhood antecedents are often put forward as being of possibl e aetiological significance for both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Method. Comparisons were made of groups of women with eating disorders with groups of women with major depression or without current psychiatric disor der, using the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse interview (CECA). Results. Women with bulimia nervosa (or mixed bulimia and anorexia nervosa) tended to report more troubled childhood experiences than did women from t he non-morbid comparison group. In this respect, they resembled those with major depression. In contrast, those with anorexia nervosa resembled the no n-morbid women rather than the other psychiatric groups. Conclusions. Adversity in childhood as measured by the CECA may play a part in the causation of bulimia nervosa but not of anorexia nervosa. It remain s possible that more specific or subtle family influences may be relevant.