The Dissimilarity between Patients' and Relatives' Perception of Eating Disorders and its Relation to Patient Adjustment

Abstract

This study aims to examine the relation between the degree of dissimilarity in patients' and relatives' perception of eating disorders (ED) and patient adjustment. Sixty ED patients and their relatives were interviewed. They completed the Spanish version for ED of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R). Patients who agreed with their relatives that their illness was highly distressful, a chronic condition and with high identity, showed higher psychological distress than patients who did not agree with their relatives. When patients and relatives had fairly positive perceptions of illness controllability and curability, these patients showed lower levels of depression and anxiety.

Illness perceptions among carer–survivor dyads are related to psychological distress among Oesophageal cancer survivors

“…We believe that this is the first time that the moderating effect of carer's illness perceptions have been shown in an examination of the psychological distress of people with cancer. Previous research examining the effect of relatives' or carers' perceptions on psychological adjustment of patients with other chronic illness indicates mixed results in that in some cases the relative's perceptions are not related to the patient's psychological distress [20,23], whereas in other research there is a relationship [11,12,19,21,22,25]. However, even in this latter group of research studies, the specific illness perceptions which correlate significantly with patient distress differ, perhaps as a result of the different chronic illnesses under investigation.…”

“…Patient and relative scores have been categorized in terms of their similarity or dissimilarity [12,19]; relative scores have been subtracted from patient scores to provide an estimate of incongruence [13,[20][21][22]; and patient and relative scores have been entered as separate covariates in a regression analysis [23,24]. However, for our analyses, we hypothesized that the carer's illness perceptions may moderate the relationship between the survivor's illness perceptions and their level of psychological distress (see [11,25]).…”

“…Furthermore, previous research suggests that the levels of psychological distress experienced by people with chronic illness can also be affected by the illness perceptions of family carers [11][12][13]. This previous research indicates that in some situations, incongruence in couples' perceptions is detrimental to psychological health.…”

“…Yet, in other situations, incongruence appears to be a positive outcome. For example, people with eating disorder who did not agree with the illness perceptions expressed by their relatives were less distressed than those who agreed with their relative's perceptions of eating disorder [12]. Again, therefore, the effect of the illness perceptions held by the carer on the distress experienced by the patient may be condition-specific.…”

Stigma and treatment of eating disorders in Ireland: healthcare professionals’ knowledge and attitudes

“…In addition, the beliefs expressed by this professional sample are at odds with the illness models held by ED-affected individuals themselves, who tend to view their disorder as characterised by low controllability and curability (Holliday et al 2005). Discrepancies in the illness beliefs held by those affected and the people around them, including healthcare providers, are associated with psychological distress on the part of the patient (Quiles et al 2009). These client-clinician discrepancies could foster difficult clinical interactions, particularly if the client perceives a stigmatising attitude on the part of the healthcare professional (Easter, 2012;Stevenson et al 2014).…”