[Between clumping and stiffness; family structure of two generations of young people with anorexia or bulimia].

Objective: to characterize the structure of two generations with the narrative story of women with anorexia or bulimia.

Methods: descriptive, qualitative-type retrospective study. Information was gathered from a genogram of two generations, and focused on tape-recorded interviews with eight young women being treated for anorexia or bulimia.

Results: the family structure of both generations was characterized by rigid pattern expressed in a controlled and inflexibility behavior to assume changes displayed in overprotective manners. Contemporary family patterns showed closer bonds between fathers and daughters, and lesser bonds and more rigidity between mothers and daughters. The grandparents' generation did not use health services for attention of eating disorders.

Conclusions: bonding and rigidity were the main characteristics of the family structure in both generations. It suggests that these structural patterns are transfered from one generation to the next.