Variants of potentially traumatizing life events in eating disorder patients

Abstract

Although many studies have found associations between trauma and eating disorders, it is important to study associations between the whole spectrum of potentially traumatic experiences and eating disorders. This study examined to what extent noninterpersonal traumas, interpersonal traumas, and adverse childhood circumstances were reported in a sample of patients with eating disorders, comparing this with ratings in a nonclinical group. Differences in trauma experiences between the different eating disorder diagnosis groups were assessed, and associations between trauma experiences and the reported severity of eating disturbance were analyzed. Fifty patients with eating disorders and a group of adolescent girls and young women (N = 245) without known psychological problems completed a self-report trauma-history questionnaire: the Linköping Youth Life Experience Scale. The eating disorder group also answered the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire. For several specific traumas, the eating disorder group had experienced a significantly larger number of potentially traumatizing events. With regard to the number of different traumas, the results were more equivocal; more experiences of adverse childhood circumstances and repeated traumas were reported in the eating disorder group, but more noninterpersonal traumas were reported in the nonclinical group. The number of adverse childhood experiences and repeated traumas was associated with the presence of eating disorders in outpatient adolescents and young women. The frequency and type of potentially traumatizing events need to be clearly assessed for these patients, placing particular focus on repeated traumas. Treatment may be improved through a focus on traumatic experiences in order to resolve the eating problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)