Childhood Traumatic Experiences and Dissociative Phenomena in Eating Disorders: Level and Association with the Severity of Binge Eating Symptoms

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to evaluate the presence of childhood trauma, psychoform, and somatoform dissociation in eating disorders (ED). Eighty-six ED outpatients participated in this study, 20 of them were diagnosed with restrictive anorexia (AN-R), 10 of them with anorexia nervosa binge-purging subtypes (AN-B), 25 with bulimia nervosa (BN), and 31 with binge eating disorder (BED). They were matched by sex and age with a control group consisting of 86 healthy subjects (HC). Traumatic experiences were assessed by means of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), psychological, and somatoform dissociation, respectively, by means of the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES-II) and Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ-20), and binge eating symptoms by means of Binge Eating Scale (BES). ED subjects showed higher levels of childhood trauma, and both psychoform and somatoform dissociation compared to HC subjects. ED patients showed higher levels of childhood trauma compared to the HC group. No significant differences were shown between ED subgroups with respect to all forms of childhood trauma. BN and AN-B subgroups showed higher levels of both psychological and somatoform dissociation. Dissociation and childhood trauma predicted the severity of binge eating symptoms. Our results confirm previous studies in the same field.

Binge eating and purging in first‐year college students: Prevalence, psychiatric comorbidity, and academic performance

“…These associations may reflect a shared underlying vulnerability. BPB may also represent a coping mechanism for anxiety, depression, or PTSD-related traumatic memories (Palmisano et al, 2018). Alternatively, BPB may also increase risk for onsets of other mental health problems (e.g., Riley, Davis, Combs, Jordan, & Smith, 2016).…”

How are early maladaptive schemas and DSM‐5 personality traits associated with the severity of binge eating?

“…Dysfunctional personological traits seem to play an essential role in the development and maintenance of BED (Gerlach, Herpertz, & Loeber, 2015) and obese patients with BED showed lower levels of maternal and paternal care (Amianto, Spalatro, et al, 2018). These findings were closely related to greater emotional neglect in these patients (Belli, Ural, Akbudak, & Sagaltıcı, 2019), suggesting that environments with emotional neglect could predispose individuals to the development of obesity (Palmisano et al, 2018).…”

The effect of trauma and dissociation on the outcome of cognitive behavioural therapy for binge eating disorder: A 6‐month prospective study

“…Although findings such as these suggest that trauma, depression, and dissociation may be relevant factors to consider in explaining the onset of eating disorders with bingeing features (Mitchell, Mazzeo, Schlesinger, Brewerton & Smith, ; Rayworth, Wise & Harlow, ), there is also evidence suggesting that trauma and dissociation are also associated with the frequency and duration of bingeing episodes (Palmisano et al, ). Some scholars have argued that depression and dissociation may explain the link between trauma and eating psychopathology, such as bingeing behaviours, characterized by impulsivity (Everill, Waller, & Macdonald, ; Moulton, Newman, Power, Swanson, & Day, ).…”