Eating Disorders and Intimate Partner Violence: The Influence of Fear of Loneliness and Social Withdrawal

Abstract

Eating disorders are vulnerability factors that increase the likelihood of intimate partner violence. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are unclear. Although eating disorders have been associated with increased perception and fear of loneliness, they have also been associated with increased social withdrawal resulting from decreased enjoyment of social situations and poorer social functioning. The purpose of the present study was to examine the mediating role of fear of loneliness in the relationship between the behavioural characteristics of eating disorders and intimate partner violence, as well as to explore the moderating role of social withdrawal in the relationship between fear of loneliness and intimate partner violence. The sample comprised 683 participants (78% female and 22% male) with a mean age of 21.14 years (SD = 2.72). The psychometric scales used were Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI 2), Emotional Dependency Questionnaire (EDQ), Coping Strategies Inventory (CSI) and the Violence Received, Exercised and Perceived in Youth and Adolescent Dating Relationships Scale (VREPS). The hypothesised model was tested by path analysis using maximum likelihood. The path analysis of the hypothesised model showed that inefficacy, fear of maturity, and impulsivity were the behavioural characteristics of eating disorders predominantly related to fear of loneliness. Fear of loneliness had no direct significant effect on any of the received violence variables. However, interaction effects indicated that there was a moderately significant effect of fear of loneliness on physical, psychological, and social violence received as a function of levels of social withdrawal. These findings show the need to take into account and work on fear of loneliness and social withdrawal among individuals with an eating disorder to decrease the likelihood of establishing violent intimate partner relationships. Improving interpersonal functioning and social support is key to recovery from eating disorders.

Functional Assessment of Disordered Eating in the Context of Trauma and Sexual Assault

“…This falls in line with previous research that finds that Bulimia Nervosa (BN) can serve the function of establishing psychological and physical space following assault (Root & Fallon, 1989), and that Anorexia Nervosa can serve as a control mechanism over negative or dangerous interpersonal events (Peterson & Seligman, 1983). Indeed, as victims personally know their perpetrators in eight out of 10 cases of SA (Department of Justice, 2017), we may conceptualize the avoidance of activities as fear-driven (Momeñe et al, 2022) and intentional postassault.…”

Latent classes of eating disorders and addictions by sex: Implication of alexithymia and stressful life events in youths

“…Results show that the most prevalent disorders are alcohol, EDs, CB, drugs and GD, respectively. The empirical literature has shown that EDs and CB are more prevalent in women, whereas GD and drugs are more prevalent in men (Granero et al, 2016;Chóliz et al, 2021;Momeñe et al, 2022a). Regarding alcohol, although the prevalence tends to be higher in men, both sexes show risky drinking patterns during youth (Delegation of the Spanish Government for the National Plan on Drugs, 2020).…”

“…According to Kaur (2019), individuals who experienced more stressful childhood experiences and reported less ability to identify their moods (i.e., alexithymia) were more likely to use an addictive behaviour as a maladaptive coping mechanism. In addition, posttraumatic disorders are significantly more recurrent in young people in treatment for addiction and EDs than those without them, and are associated with a costlier treatment and worse prognosis (Wang et al, 2020;Momeñe et al, 2022a).…”

“…The three main types of EDs are anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED; Hay, 2020). Recent studies indicated that weighted means of lifetime EDs were 8.4% for women and 2.2% for men, tending to emerge between early and late adolescence (Galmiche et al, 2019;Momeñe et al, 2022a). However, EDs incidence continues to increase, becoming a genuine concern for mental health services, especially among young girls.…”

“…There is an extensive database of study results in the literature that associates alexithymia and trauma with a tendency towards addictions and EDs (Zdankiewicz-Ścigała and Ścigała, 2020;Momeñe et al, 2022b). It has been conceptualised that early trauma disturbs the development of cognitive and affective processing, integration of thinking and feeling, and the capacity to understand and express emotional states (Craparo et al, 2014).…”