[Mutual assessment of their marital relationship by parents of female patients with eating disorders].

AIM The goal of this study was to assess the perception of marital relationship and its mutual connections by parents of(female) patients diagnosed with eating disorders. Data from: 54 (female) patients diagnosed with restrictive anorexia nervosa (ANR), 22 with binge-purge anorexia nervosa (ANBP), 36 with bulimia (BUL), and two control groups: 36 (female) patients diagnosed with depressive disorders (DEP) and 85 Krakow schoolgirls (NOR). MATERIAL AND METHOD The study employed the Dyadic Relations Scale, a part of the Family Assessment Measure (Polish version). RESULTS Wives in the BUL group, compared to wives in the NOR group, rated their husbands worse when assessing their husbands in terms of how well they functioned in the marital relationship, their performance of duties, affective involvement, and the integrity of values and rules of conduct. Wives in the ANR group, compared to wives in the NOR group, negatively rated the affective involvement of their husbands in the marital relationship. Husbands in the DEP group, compared to husbands in the NOR group, rated their wives worse when assessing their wives' general functioning in the marital relationship, degree of communication within it, degree of understanding, how well they performed their spousal duties, and the coherence of their system of values and rules of conduct. The image of the marital relationship held by parents of Krakow schoolgirls was characterized by a strong correlation, in contrast to the image of the relationship held by parents of (female) patients, regardless of the nature of the diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS Comparison of the results of parents of(female) patients with eating disorders and parents of(female) patients with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder revealed no difference in the image of the marital relationship, whether in the mutual assessment of spouses towards each other or in connection with the assessments.