DISSOCIATION AND TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES IN EATING DISORDERS

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of trauma and di ssociative experiences in a group of patients with eating disorders. O ne hundred and three patients were assessed at the beginning of inpati ent treatment, using the Dissociation Questionnaire (DIS-Q) and a semi -structured interview. DIS-R scores were compared for patients and a g roup of 112 high school graduating students serving as controls. Of th e patients 37.8 per cent reported traumatic experiences. The highest t rauma rate was among patients with bulimic symptoms. Notable differenc es were found between the patients and the control group in terms of t he total DIS-Q score and on all subscales. Twenty patients (19.4 per c ent) demonstrated pathological dissociative experiences (versus 3.6 pe r cent in the control group). Among patients, the highest total DIS-R scores were displayed by bulimic patients, whereas the lowest were fou nd in obese patients. Our data support the hypothesis that trauma-indu ced dissociative experiences may influence the development of eating d isorders, at least for certain subgroups of eating disorders (i.e. und erweight and normal weight bulimic subjects).