Separation-individuation difficulties and the distinction between bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa in college women.

This study investigated whether patterns of late adolescent separation-individuation from parents, as measured by the Psychological Separation Inventory (PSI), are different for anorexic-like and bulimic-like young women in college. It was hypothesized that anorexic-like women would display a pattern of underseparation from both mother and father. Bulimic-like women were expected to show a pattern of underseparation on the conflictual dimension of the PSI but overseparation on the other dimensions. A total of 198 college women completed the PSI, the Eating Disorder Inventory, and a DSM-III-R symptom checklist. Using that checklist, 19 women were classified as bulimic-like (BUN), 8 as like restricting anorexics (RAN), 11 as showing a pattern resembling both bulimia and restricting anorexia (BULAN), 109 as showing limited bulimic or anorexic behaviors (SOME), and 25 as having no eating disorder symptoms (NED). Results indicated some support for the hypotheses. BUN women were overseparated in terms of attitudinal independence from both parents and underseparated in that they experienced more guilt and conflict concerning separation than did the SOME or NED women. The anorexic-like women reported considerable guilt and conflict about separation and tended to be underseparated in general. The results point to the potential value of separation-individuation issues in the distinction between restricting anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.