Parental variables associated with bulimia nervosa.

The present study examined daughter and parent variables associated with bulimia nervosa, including attitudes about body image, eating and dieting histories, and self-esteem. Subjects were female undergraduates (bulimic, subclinical bulimic, and normal) their parents. Daughters differed in bodymass, with bulimics largest, followed by subclinicals, and finally controls. After daughter's bodymass was covaried, daughters differed in the expected direction on eating and body measures and perceived pressure from mothers to lose weight. Bulimic and subclinical daughters also perceived their mothers, more than their fathers, to pressure them to lose weight. After parents' bodymass was controlled, parents did not differ in eating behavior, dieting and weight history, self-esteem, body importance, or body image (self). Parents also did not differ in their perceptions of their daughters' bodies or the pressure exerted upon their daughters to lose weight after daughter's body-mass was covaried.