Family interaction patterns and locus of control as predictors of the presence and severity of anorexia nervosa.

Thirty female anorectics (mean age 26.4) and 30 female college student controls (mean age 25.3) completed a multidimensional locus of control scale, the Structural Family Interaction Scale, The Eating Attitudes Test, and a global clinical assessment measure. Three variables associated with Minuchin, Rosman, and Baker's (1978) family systems theory (overprotection, enmeshment, and rigidity) and one related to Bruch's (1973) theoretical position on anorexia nervosa (locus of control) were contrasted in terms of their relative effectiveness in predicting both the presence or absence and severity of the disorder. The best predictor of both measures in a series of regression and discriminant function analyses was locus of control orientation. The anorectics were significantly more external than the controls. The two groups did not differ on any of the family variables central to Minuchin et al.'s theory. The results support Bruch's contention that underlying anorexia nervosa is a sense of personal ineffectiveness.