Romantic relationships for women with anorexia nervosa: An integrative literature review

Objective: To critically appraise literature concerning romantic relationships for women with anorexia nervosa (AN), and to gain perspective on future research directives. Method: Key electronic databases, reference lists, and journals were searched. The search was limited to features of romantic relationships and their quality. Nineteen studies were critiqued and abstracted. Results: All 19 studies used a quantitative design; no qualitative studies were retrieved. Methodological strengths of these studies included confounder control and appropriate statistical analyses for design. Weaknesses included a failure to declare study designs, address sources of bias, and justify study samples, as well as a lack of confounder control. Discussion: The review drew attention to the varied relational experiences and marked relationship dissatisfaction expressed by women with AN. However, an understanding of relationship quality and its dynamic nature remains limited. Future research should focus on how meanings are negotiated in relationships, providing detailed descriptions of the women's experiences, which is best done with qualitative study. Well-conducted longitudinal research should address questions that cannot be answered by current research designs, such as temporality. ©2005, Editrice Kurtis.