Childhood sexual experience and bulimia

Abramson, Edward E.; Lucido, Grace M.

doi:10.1016/0306-4603(91)90060-u

Cited by 31 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Four of 10 studies failed to detect differences between eating disordered subjects and normal controls (Abramson and Lucido, 1991;Beckman and Burns, 1990;Rorty et al, 1994;Stuart et al, 1990). In contrast, Steiger and Zanko (1990) found a much higher rate of sexual abuse in bulimic anorexics and bulimic patients compared to their normal control group.…”

Section: Childhood Sexual and Physical Abuse: Empirical Findingsmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Similarly, in a non-clinical study, Calam and Slade (1989) found that unwanted sexual experiences were associated with higher scores on the Eating Attitudes Test, particularly in those cases with multiple abuse and abuse using force. Greater eating pathology was positively correlated with greater number of childhood sexual experiences and with greater severity of the abuse (Abramson and Lucido, 1991). In contrast, eight other studies (Bailey and Gibbons, 1989;Bushnell et al, 1992;Folsom et al, 1993;Fullerton et al, 1995;McCarthy et al, 1994;Pope et al, 1994;Smolak et al, 1990;Vize and Cooper, 1995) found no link between severity of eating symptomatology and abuse characteristics.…”

Section: Is There Any Link Between Abuse Characteristics and The Sevementioning

confidence: 90%

“…The victim's negative response (fear and/or shock) at the time of the abuse and a negative evaluation in retrospect of the childhood experience were positively correlated with eating pathology (Abramson and Lucido, 1991). In a case series of 117 eating-disordered women a negative response to disclosure was associated with signi®cantly higher levels of vomiting and borderline personality symptoms and no response was associated with a greater level of borderline personality symptoms (Waller and Ruddock, 1992).…”

Section: Is There Any Link Between Abuse Characteristics and The Sevementioning

confidence: 98%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The role of general family environment and sexual and physical abuse in the origins of eating disorders

Schmidt

Humfress

Treasure

1997

Eur. Eat. Disorders Rev.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper reviews the role of childhood family functioning and of sexual and physical abuse in eating disorders. Bearing in mind the huge methodological differences across studies the following tentative conclusions can be reached: there is evidence of more family pathology in eating disorder families than in normal control families. Those with bulimic disorders seem to have poorer family functioning than restrictors. Different eating disorder subgroups show less or comparable levels of family pathology compared to psychiatric or other medical controls depending on the comparison group. In bulimia nervosa high levels of family disturbance seem to be associated with greater severity and chronicity of bulimic symptomatology. There is some suggestion that family functioning may have more of an effect on Axis II than on Axis I disorders. Rates of sexual abuse appear to be higher in bulimia nervosa than in normal controls. Depending on which psychiatric control groups are chosen, eating disorder patients may have similar, higher or lower rates of contact sexual abuse. The majority of studies fails to ®nd differences between eating disorder subtypes in terms of rates of sexual abuse. The evidence on whether there is any link between abuse characteristics and the severity of eating disorder is inconclusive. On balance, childhood sexual abuse does not seem to be a speci®c risk factor for eating disorders. Physical abuse is more common in bulimic than in restricting disorders and usually occurs in the context of a disturbed family environment. The clinical implications of these ®ndings are discussed. Future research in the area of family factors or childhood trauma in eating disorders needs to get away from mere`head

show abstract

Section: Childhood Sexual and Physical Abuse: Empirical Findingsmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Is There Any Link Between Abuse Characteristics and The Sevementioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Is There Any Link Between Abuse Characteristics and The Sevementioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The role of general family environment and sexual and physical abuse in the origins of eating disorders

Schmidt

Humfress

Treasure

1997

Eur. Eat. Disorders Rev.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Even though sexual abuse is not generally a speci®c factor in the development of eating disorders, speci®c forms of sexual abuse, e.g. incest (Abramson and Ludico, 1991), severe and frequent abuse (Browne and Finkelhor, 1986;Waller, 1992;Hastings and Kern, 1994), abuse above the age of 12 (Beckmann and Burns, 1990;Miller et al, 1993) and oral sexual abuse (Oppenheimer et al, 1985;Riedel, 1991) may play a role. Particular clinical pictures may also be connected with sexual abuse.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Reports on sexual abuse by eating-disordered women before and after psychotherapy: a comparison of anamnestic and catamnestic data

Jacoby

Braks

Köpp

1997

Eur. Eat. Disorders Rev.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Moreover, while the presence of sexual abuse has not been shown to be a specific risk factor for bulimic disorders (e.g., Garfinkel et al, 1995;Welch & Fairburn, 1994), research indicates that a more refined relationship may exist between the severity of sexual abuse and severity of bulimic pathology (Abramson & Lucido, 1991;Hastings & Kern, 1994;Waller, 1992). For example, Waller (1992) found that more severe abuse characteristics (e.g., abuse involving force or a family member) were associated with a higher rate of bulimic behaviors in a clinical sample.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child abuse, dissociation, and core beliefs in bulimic disorders

Hartt

Waller

2002

Child Abuse & Neglect

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: This study of bulimic women examined the relationship between the severity of four forms of reported child abuse (emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse) and bulimic pathology. In addition, it investigated the relationship of abuse with dissociation and core beliefs. Method: A sample of 23 women with bulimic disorders completed standardized self-report measures of child abuse, dissociation, core beliefs, and bulimic symptomatology. They also completed diary records of bulimic behaviors. Results: No dimensional relationship was found between any form of child abuse and bulimic pathology. However, within this group of bulimics, neglect and sexual abuse were correlated with dissociation. In addition, a subset of core beliefs was associated with child abuse, with different cognitive profiles associated with each form of trauma. Conclusions:The findings need to be interpreted with caution because of the small, heterogeneous sample involved. Further research involving larger, homogenous samples is needed to investigate the generalizability of these findings, in order to determine if particular abusive experiences and core beliefs need to be addressed therapeutically in such cases. In addition, future research should consider the relationships between abuse, core beliefs and other impulsive behaviors.

show abstract

Childhood sexual experience and bulimia

Cited by 31 publications

References 10 publications

The role of general family environment and sexual and physical abuse in the origins of eating disorders

The role of general family environment and sexual and physical abuse in the origins of eating disorders

Reports on sexual abuse by eating-disordered women before and after psychotherapy: a comparison of anamnestic and catamnestic data

Child abuse, dissociation, and core beliefs in bulimic disorders

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About