Clinical characteristics of eating disorder patients who report sexual or physical Abuse

Abstract

At initial contact in an eating disorders clinic, 712 female eating disorder patients were asked if they had been physically or sexually abused as children. They also completed a Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and an Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI). Their eating disorder symptom frequency and severity was determined. They were asked if they had alcohol problems, had attempted suicide, or had shoplifting problems. Twenty‐nine percent reported sexual abuse. Twenty‐five percent reported physical abuse. There was no correlation between reports of abuse and symptom frequency or severity. The abused subjects were more depressed on the BDI and showed more psychological disturbance on the EDI. Abused subjects were much more likely than nonabused subjects to report alcohol problems, suicide attempts, or shoplifting. © 1995 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Different outcomes, psychopathological features, and comorbidities in patients with eating disorders reporting childhood abuse: A 3‐year follow‐up study

“…Furthermore, in line with previous observations (Carr, Martins, Stingel, Lemgruber, & Juruena, ; Fullerton, Wonderlich, & Gosnell, ), abused patients showed an overall greater rate of psychiatric comorbidity. A higher medical comorbidity was also reported, confirming that abused persons tend to be more prone to having multiple health problems throughout their life, beyond mental illness, involving also functional gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, and chronic pain conditions (Gilbert et al, ; Maniglio, ; Paras et al, ), as well as alterations of neurobiology and stress physiology (Dannlowski et al, ; Hulme, ).…”

Different outcomes, psychopathological features, and comorbidities in patients with eating disorders reporting childhood abuse: A 3‐year follow‐up study

“…Furthermore, in line with previous observations (Carr, Martins, Stingel, Lemgruber, & Juruena, ; Fullerton, Wonderlich, & Gosnell, ), abused patients showed an overall greater rate of psychiatric comorbidity. A higher medical comorbidity was also reported, confirming that abused persons tend to be more prone to having multiple health problems throughout their life, beyond mental illness, involving also functional gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, and chronic pain conditions (Gilbert et al, ; Maniglio, ; Paras et al, ), as well as alterations of neurobiology and stress physiology (Dannlowski et al, ; Hulme, ).…”

Childhood emotional abuse and eating symptoms in bulimic disorders: An examination of possible mediating variables

“…Our results parallel previous findings showing an association between childhood abuse and eating disorders. Rates of childhood physical and sexual abuse in our sample always exceeded those observed in our normal‐eater group, and were comparable to those reported in the literature 1, 2. Likewise, the rate of childhood emotional abuse in our BSD group was significantly higher than that observed in our normal‐eaters, with 80.7% of women with a BSD reporting childhood emotional abuse‐a rate that is quite in line with a 76.3% rate reported in the only other published estimate of childhood emotional abuse in BSDs 5…”

Suicide attempts versus suicidal ideation in bulimic female adolescents

“…The physical and sexual abuse in childhood experiences correlate with actual suicide attempts in adulthood. The long term effect of negative childhood experiences and the increased risk of a later suicide attempt resulting from this confirm the observations of Dube et al , 10 Johnson et al , 12 Pfeffer et al , 39 Renaud et al , 15 Agerbo et al , 16 Qin et al , 17 Fullerton et al , 6 Brent et al 8 and McHolm et al 40 …”

Different outcomes, psychopathological features, and comorbidities in patients with eating disorders reporting childhood abuse: A 3‐year follow‐up study

“…Furthermore, in line with previous observations (Carr, Martins, Stingel, Lemgruber, & Juruena, ; Fullerton, Wonderlich, & Gosnell, ), abused patients showed an overall greater rate of psychiatric comorbidity. A higher medical comorbidity was also reported, confirming that abused persons tend to be more prone to having multiple health problems throughout their life, beyond mental illness, involving also functional gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, and chronic pain conditions (Gilbert et al, ; Maniglio, ; Paras et al, ), as well as alterations of neurobiology and stress physiology (Dannlowski et al, ; Hulme, ).…”

Childhood emotional abuse and eating symptoms in bulimic disorders: An examination of possible mediating variables

“…Our results parallel previous findings showing an association between childhood abuse and eating disorders. Rates of childhood physical and sexual abuse in our sample always exceeded those observed in our normal‐eater group, and were comparable to those reported in the literature 1, 2. Likewise, the rate of childhood emotional abuse in our BSD group was significantly higher than that observed in our normal‐eaters, with 80.7% of women with a BSD reporting childhood emotional abuse‐a rate that is quite in line with a 76.3% rate reported in the only other published estimate of childhood emotional abuse in BSDs 5…”

Suicide attempts versus suicidal ideation in bulimic female adolescents

“…The physical and sexual abuse in childhood experiences correlate with actual suicide attempts in adulthood. The long term effect of negative childhood experiences and the increased risk of a later suicide attempt resulting from this confirm the observations of Dube et al , 10 Johnson et al , 12 Pfeffer et al , 39 Renaud et al , 15 Agerbo et al , 16 Qin et al , 17 Fullerton et al , 6 Brent et al 8 and McHolm et al 40 …”

Different outcomes, psychopathological features, and comorbidities in patients with eating disorders reporting childhood abuse: A 3‐year follow‐up study

“…Furthermore, in line with previous observations (Carr, Martins, Stingel, Lemgruber, & Juruena, ; Fullerton, Wonderlich, & Gosnell, ), abused patients showed an overall greater rate of psychiatric comorbidity. A higher medical comorbidity was also reported, confirming that abused persons tend to be more prone to having multiple health problems throughout their life, beyond mental illness, involving also functional gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, and chronic pain conditions (Gilbert et al, ; Maniglio, ; Paras et al, ), as well as alterations of neurobiology and stress physiology (Dannlowski et al, ; Hulme, ).…”

Childhood emotional abuse and eating symptoms in bulimic disorders: An examination of possible mediating variables

“…Our results parallel previous findings showing an association between childhood abuse and eating disorders. Rates of childhood physical and sexual abuse in our sample always exceeded those observed in our normal‐eater group, and were comparable to those reported in the literature 1, 2. Likewise, the rate of childhood emotional abuse in our BSD group was significantly higher than that observed in our normal‐eaters, with 80.7% of women with a BSD reporting childhood emotional abuse‐a rate that is quite in line with a 76.3% rate reported in the only other published estimate of childhood emotional abuse in BSDs 5…”

Suicide attempts versus suicidal ideation in bulimic female adolescents

“…The physical and sexual abuse in childhood experiences correlate with actual suicide attempts in adulthood. The long term effect of negative childhood experiences and the increased risk of a later suicide attempt resulting from this confirm the observations of Dube et al , 10 Johnson et al , 12 Pfeffer et al , 39 Renaud et al , 15 Agerbo et al , 16 Qin et al , 17 Fullerton et al , 6 Brent et al 8 and McHolm et al 40 …”