ABSTRACT
Research on family interaction and anorexia started out with attempts to test the Psychosomatic Family Model. A small number of research studies are based on direct observation of interaction between family members in interviews or experimental family tasks, or statements made by family members in clinical or research interviews. A substantial body of research exists which illuminates aspects of the relationship between the family and anorexia. Studies of Expressed Emotion have usually been focused on the impact of the quality of family relationships on the outcome from treatment. A number of studies have attempted to test family theories of anorexia relating to family structure. The families of the women with anorexia agreed with one another about the description of the family to an abnormal degree, compared to the families of women with borderline personality disorder and the families of non-clinical comparison women. Questionnaire studies of family relationships enquire about family relationships in general.
