Relationships between disordered eating and unwanted sexual experiences: Areview

It is frequently suggested that unwanted sexual experience (USE), particula rly childhood sexual abuse, is a major risk factor for the development of d isordered eating. A review of published literature indicates that, while se veral studies find no relationship between a history of USE and eating path ology, many report that the hypothesised relationship is evident in at leas t some circumstances or subpopulations. It is argued that researchers shoul d now attempt to explain this relationship by linking these research findin gs to a clear conceptual model that can be tested in future studies. In par ticular, longitudinal studies are required in order to test whether the rel ationship between these factors is causal or is an artefact of other psycho logical processes. A conceptual model of the relationships among USE and di sordered eating is currently lacking in the literature, and the establishme nt of such a model should be a priority of future research in this area, in order to enable a thorough understanding and minimisation of the effects o f USE on later psychological disturbance such as disordered eating.