Interpersonal relationship-patterns in families with a bulimic patient - an interaction-analysis

Basic hypotheses concerning the interaction in families of bulimic patients are tested. Family therapy sessions of 20 female patients of an outpatient therapy unit for eating-disorders were coded with a micro-analytic instrum ent (Gottinger Familieninteraktions-Skalen) and analysed. The siblings rela tionships were systematically included in the study. The parental dyad turn ed out to be significantly more conflictual than the other dyads were. In t he relationship between the patient and the parents a relatively stable pat tern of interactional behaviour was found. The relationship between mother and bulimic daughter was more conflictual than that between father and daug hter. The father-sibling-dyad was not significantly more conflictual than t he father-patient-dyad. Especially the impact of sibling relationships on t he family interaction of bulimic patients needs further elucidation.