Childhood Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders in Females: Findings From the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study
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OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) before the age of 16 years and later onset of bulimia and anorexia nervosa symptoms in females. DESIGN: A longitudinal cohort study of adolescents observed from August 1992 to March 2003. The cohort was defined in a 2-stage cluster sample using 44 Australian schools in Victoria. SETTING: Population based. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1936 persons participated at least once and survived to the age of 24 years, including 999 females. The mean (SD) age of females at the start of follow-up was 14.91 (0.39) years; and at completion, 24.03 (0.55) years. Main Exposure Self-reported CSA before the age of 16 years was ascertained retrospectively at the age of 24 years. OUTCOME MEASURES: Incident Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition)-defined partial syndromes of anorexia and bulimia nervosa were identified between waves 4 (mean age, 16.3 years) and 6 (mean age, 17.4 years) using the Branched Eating Disorder Test. RESULTS: The incidence of bulimic syndrome during adolescence was 2.5 (95% confidence interval, 0.80-8.0) times higher among those who reported 1 episode of CSA and 4.9 (95% confidence interval, 1.9-12.7) times higher among those who reported 2 or more episodes of CSA, compared with females reporting no episodes, adjusted for age and background factors. The association persisted after adjusting for possible confounders or mediators measured 6 months earlier, including psychiatric morbidity and dieting behavior. There was little evidence of an association between CSA and partial syndromes of incident anorexia nervosa. CONCLUSION: Childhood sexual abuse seems to be a risk factor for the development of bulimic syndromes, not necessarily mediated by psychiatric morbidity or severe dieting.
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A recent review article suggests that the prevalence of comorbid PTSD and eating disorders ranges from 9% to 24%, although estimates are consistently higher when looking specifically at binge-type eating disorders.
“A recent review article suggests that the prevalence of comorbid PTSD and EDs ranges from 9% to 24% [136], although estimates are consistently higher when looking specifically at binge-type EDs [137,138,139,140,141].”
From Separating the Signal from the Noise: How Psychiatric Diagnoses Can Help Discern Food Addiction from Dietary Restraint (2020) · cites this paper as [140]
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- Authors
- Sanci, L., Coffey, C., Olsson, C., Reid, S., Carlin, J. B., & Patton, G.
- Affiliations
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Venue
- Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 2008-03-01
- Volume
- 162
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 261
- ISSN
- 1072-4710 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2014703736
- Cited by
- 118
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 7.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion)
- Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Keywords
- child sexual abuse, eating disorders, bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, adolescent girls, risk factors, dieting behavior, psychiatric morbidity, longitudinal cohort
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Anorexia Nervosa, Child, Child Abuse, Sexual, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Mental Recall, Victoria, Bulimia Nervosa
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