Abstract: Family is one of essential factors in the etiology of eating disorders. Many western scholars have used various methods to investigate the relationships between eating disorders and family environment. According to chronological order, Minuchin and other scholars had conducted classic clinical researches; and numerous quantitative treatises emerged subsequently, which could be sorted out from different assessment levels, research variables and subject perspectives; recently some researchers employed qualitative research methods to explore this topic. The development trends of family researches on eating disorders include: highlighting indigenous studies, exploring family system with multilevel approach and taking into account family structures and family change processes simultaneously.

Key words: eating disorders, family environment, clinical researches, quantitative researches, qualitative researches