THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SEXUAL ABUSE AND EATING PATHOLOGY

Objective: The present study examined whether patients with histories of sexual abuse reported a higher degree of pathological eating behavi ors and attitudes than a nonsexually abused control group. Method: Sub jects, 134 psychiatric inpatients, completed the Eating Disorder Inven tory (EDI) to assess eating pathology, and a questionnaire that gather ed in formation regarding sexual abuse experiences. Results: A logisti c regression model found that a complex of EDI subscales was significa ntly related to a history of childhood abuse. Exploratory analyses fou nd that survivors of sexual abuse obtained higher scorer; on the EDI s ubscales scores of Drive for Thinness, Interpersonal Distrust, Perfect ionism, and Interoceptive Awareness. Further, the mean score for sexua l abuse survivors without an eating disorder on the majority of EDI su bscales was above established means for eating-disordered groups. Disc ussion: These findings suggest that inpatients with a history of sexua l abuse are likely to present with eating disorder symptomatology. (C) 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.