Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether siblings of patients with eating disorders show a more disturbed eating behavior and a higher proneness to associated psychological characteristics than controls.
Method: 84 patients with eating disorders of an outpatient clinic, their siblings (n=84) and a control group (n=84) with an age range 14-34 for the total sample were evaluated using the Eating Disorder Inventory-2.
Results: There was no significant difference between the siblings and the controls in disturbed eating behavior.
Discussion: The existence of an eating disorder in patients does not seem to be related to the development of eating disturbed behavior in their siblings.