The Object Relations of Bulimic Women in Context: An Integration of Two Studies

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and contextualize the object relations of bulimic women. Two independent studies, one quantitative and one qualitative, were conducted. In the quantitative study, 77 undergraduate women completed self-report measures of eating behavior, interpersonal dependency, and object relations. In the qualitative study, four bulimic women participated in semi-structured interviews that were coded for relational themes and contextualized through a feminist socio-cultural analysis. Results supported the strong association between dependency and eating disorders and demonstrated that the object relationships of the participants were characterized by both insecure attachment and egocentricity. Socio-cultural analysis suggests that the development of these object relations can be partially accounted for by conflicting cultural expectations for women.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Kathleen Deters-Hayes, C.S.W. and Roger Greenberg, Ph.D. of SUNY Upstate Medical University, for their review of earlier versions of this manuscript.