The present study examined the relationship of child maltreatment to both emotion dysregulation and subsequent eating pathology. In an effort to extend previous research, the authors examined the unique impact of childhood emotional abuse (CEA) on emotion dysregulation and eating disorder (ED) symptoms while controlling for the effects of sexual…

Objective: Examine whether (1) childhood maltreatment is associated with subsequent obesity and depression in middle-age; (2) maltreatment explains the associations between obesity and depression; and (3) binge eating or body dissatisfaction mediate associations between childhood maltreatment and subsequent obesity. Methods: Data were obtained…

Objective: To examine the mediational significance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the development of eating disorder symptomatology following sexually traumatic experiences. Method: Seventy-one victims of sexual trauma and 25 control subjects completed interviews and questionnaires assessing eating disorder psychopathology and…

An adaptation of the Stroop Test (using colored words related to sexual abuse) impaired color-naming in eating-disordered women (n=50) and in comparison women reporting sexual abuse. The interference effect was related to abuse characteristics, degree of bulimic psychopathology, and frequency of binging. A two-stage model of cognitive reaction to…

Objective: Drawing from stress-vulnerability and trauma theory (e.g., Rorty & Yager, 1996), this paper presents a model of associations among child emotional abuse (CEA), alexithymia, general distress (GD), and disordered eating (DE). This study extended previous research on psychological outcomes of child physical and sexual abuse to explore…

This study compared childhood parental physical punishment among 80 women with and 40 women without a lifetime history of bulimia nervosa. Although the women with bulimia reported more and harsher physical punishment than the control group, they did not differ in the extent to which they believed the punishment was deserved or whether they were…

Young women (n=102) with bulimia nervosa were compared with 204 control subjects without an eating disorder and with 102 subjects with other psychiatric disorders. Results suggest that sexual and physical abuse are both risk factors for psychiatric disorders in general, including bulimia nervosa, but are not specific risk factors for bulimia. (DB)

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) on clinical characteristics and premature termination of treatment in anorexia nervosa (AN). Method: The participants were 77 consecutive patients with AN admitted to an inpatient eating disorders unit. The patients were assessed in terms of eating disorder…

Female undergraduates (n=100) were surveyed concerning body percept and past experience with sexual abuse. Body size overestimation was greater in noneating-disordered women who had relatively unhealthy eating attitudes. Overall findings suggested that age at time of abuse and body image are only associated where there is a degree of eating…

A study assessed prevalence of date violence and rape in 81,247 adolescents. Approximately 9% of girls and 6% of boys had experienced date violence or rape. Date violence and rape was associated with higher rates of disordered eating behaviors and suicidal thoughts and attempts, and lower emotional well-being and self-esteem. (Contains…

Objective: The goals of this study were to examine the role of dissociation and depression as possible mediators of the relationship between several forms of childhood trauma and bulimic symptomatology and to explore potential ethnic differences in these relationships. Method: Four hundred seventeen female undergraduates participated in this…

This study examined the relationships among childhood sexual and physical abuse, body image disturbance, and eating disorder symptomatology in college students, of whom 29 had been sexually abused, 32 physically abused, and 29 nonabused. There was no evidence that child sexual or physical abuse was associated with the development of body image…

Analysis of questionnaire responses from 182 professionals, 393 students, and 39 patients with eating disorders found a significant consensus across groups in the ranked order of perceived characteristic long-term outcomes of child sexual abuse. Respondent sex, social class, or past sexual abuse experience had no significant effect on this…

A study involving 23 British women with bulimic disorders found no dimensional relationship between any form of child abuse and bulimic pathology. However, neglect and sexual abuse were correlated with dissociation. A subset of core beliefs was associated with child abuse, with different cognitive profiles associated with each trauma. (Contains…

Objective: Although many studies have identified associations between childhood maltreatment and later substance use and disordered eating, few have examined causal or explanatory pathways, and whether victim characteristics predict the development of one versus the other of these outcomes remains uninvestigated. Furthermore, relatively little…