Parental intrusiveness in adolescence recalled by women with a history of bulimia nervosa and comparison women

Objective: To learn if women with a lifetime history of bulimia nervosa (BN ) report more intrusive parental behavior during adolescence than their non clinical peers, and to provide further validation of the Parental Intrusive ness Rating Scale (PIRS). Method: We administered the PIRS to 86 women with a lifetime history of BN and 573 comparison subjects and examined between- group differences. Results: Relative to the comparison group, lifetime BN s ubjects reported higher levels of parental intrusiveness, specifically mate rnal invasion of privacy, maternal jealousy and competition, paternal seduc tiveness, and maternal and paternal overconcern with the daughter's eating, weight, and shape. There were no between-group differences in paternal inv asion of privacy. In exploratory analyses with the comparison sample, Cauca sian women reported greater maternal jealousy and competition than Asian Am erican/Pacific Islander women, but there were no other differences. Conclus ion: These results support clinical observations of high levels of parental intrusiveness in the adolescent experiences of women who develop BN. Noncl inical women of diverse ethnic backgrounds report largely equivalent experi ences. (C) 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.