Family structure and relationships of 50 female anorexia nervosa patients.

Family features of the first 50 anorexia nervosa patients referred to a psychiatrist from a defined geographic area are documented. Information about the families was obtained from personal interviews with the parents during the course of the patients' treatment. High socio-economic class, absence of non-white population, older age of parents, instability factors in the parents' backgrounds and high incidence of both physical and psychiatric illness in the parents suggest multiple factors may be aetiological. Possible pathogenic factors are equally distributed between mothers and fathers.