Childhood Sexual Abuse's Correlation With Eating Disorders

Though unfortunate, some people have experienced childhood sexual abuse in which could lead to other unpleasant experiences in their lives. It is hypothesized the experience of childhood sexual abuse is associated with greater levels of eating disorders in adulthood. This has been exemplified in five empirical research articles. These articles have been examined in order to determine if there is support for whether childhood abuse has a correlation with eating disorders. The first of these studies was conducted by Wonderlich, et al (2001). This study examines the relationship between sexual trauma and eating disorder behavior. The effects of the developmental stage of the victim was taken into account along with the effects of multiple sexual
The Eating Concern and Shape Concern scores were significantly higher for the Childhood Sexual Abuse + RAPE group than for the RAPE group. GATHER DATA FOR THIS INFORMATION!!! There was a type of eating disorder associated with each group. Anorexia nervosa was associated with Childhood Sexual Abuse + RAPE group. Binge eating disorder was associated with both childhood sexual abuse conditions. Subclinical diagnosis comparisons suggests that childhood sexual abuse in general appears associated with binge eating disorders. The conclusions the author came to illustrate the results support the prediction that childhood sexual abuse increases the risk of eating disorder-related psychopathology. There is little evidence to suggest the effect was simply a product of sexual trauma as rape victims did not show rates of such psychopathology. Participants who were apart of the Childhood Sexual Abuse + RAPE group did show to have elevated scores on dietary restraint and weight concerns. The data implies Childhood Sexual Abuse does have a significant effect of eating disorder pathology. Another result founds was that early childhood trauma may sensitize an individual’s response
Body image serves as a mediator between childhood sexual abuse and eating disturbance. For each of the variables, there was multiple measures taken. There was two-hundred and twenty-two college aged women tested. The data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling. There was an adequate fit found in both the measurement model and proposed structural model. The results support a model that body image strongly affects dieting behavior, which likewise affects bulimic behavior. The results do not appear to support the proposed mediational model involving the hypothesized indirect effect of childhood sexual abuse on eating pathology. However, there is a small indirect relationship between childhood sexual abuse and posttraumatic symptomatology. The authors did find some limitations on the study that could have affected the results. First off, the study only consisted of college students enrolled in an introductory psychology course. Along with this, the sample could show less because participants are high-functioning college students than those in a clinical or mixed sample. Another factor that must be considered is that the range for the childhood abuse is from birth to age fifteen. This might be two big of a range seeing as some of those in the range could have already reached puberty. Also, there