Alexithymia in parents of daughters with eating disorders: its relationships with psychopathological and personality variables.

Objectives: The purpose of this research was to investigate alexithymia among parents of a daughter with eating disorders (EDs) and to relate alexithymia to personality and psychopathology characteristics.

Methods: Parents of 73 women with ED (20 with anorexia nervosa, restrictive subtype (ANR), 23 with anorexia nervosa, bulimic subtype (ANB) and 30 with bulimia nervosa (BN)) and parents of 72 normal women were evaluated with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale.

Results: The parents of daughters with ED show higher scores in the TAS-20 and its factors than the controls.

Dyadic adjustment in parents of schizophrenics.

Objective: To study the dyadic adjustment in couples with a schizophrenic offspring.

Method: 140 married couples, 67 with children with schizophrenia, and two control groups: 41 couples without pathology and 32 couples with pathology, were assessed with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale.

Results: The couples with a schizophrenic offspring evidenced significantly worse dyadic adjustment than did the normal controls, especially low consensus and cohesion in husbands, and low cohesion and satisfaction in wives.