Developmental Psychopathology

Many clinically based theorists and researchers have described potential etiological factors in the development of eating problems and eating disorders. So, for example, Bruch (1973) discussed a potential desire to avoid sexual maturation and its attendant demands, whereas Johnson and Connors (1987) considered the possibility that early motherinfant interactions and subsequent development of an unhealthy attachment might contribute to, and perhaps even differentiate, AN and BN.