'An engagement-distancing flux': bringing a voice to experiences with romantic relationships for women with anorexia nervosa.

Over the past 20 years, clinicians and researchers have been exploring the dynamic interplay between eating disorders and relational experiences. This phenomenological study sought to describe the subjective experiences of romantic relationships for women with anorexia nervosa (AN). A purposive sample of 11 women participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Analysis revealed that these women engaged in diverse relational experiences characterized by dialectical themes of engagement and distancing, which acted as basic drivers of relational change and maintenance. The dialectical perspective illustrated that the women's relational experiences did not contradict a generalized theory of relationships. Rather, the participants often addressed behavioural patterns, motivational dynamics and situational environments in the context of their eating disorder. Understanding how women with AN experience romantic relationships may assist health care professionals to tailor interventions specific to patient ways of relating. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]