Eating-disorded patients remember their parents: A study using the parental-bonding instrument

Abstract

The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) was used to compare the way in which a group of anorectic and a group of bulimic patients remembered their parents in childhood. The results were compared with published data. No differences were demonstrated on the “protection” score, but there were small and inconsistent differences on the “care” score. In general, the clinical subjects produced widely varied results, and the data do not support hypotheses which suggest that eating disordered patients have had a childhood characterized by any particular pattern of parental relationship.