Family background and sexual abuse associated with eating disorders.
OBJECTIVE
The authors examined the possible relationship of negative early familial experiences and childhood sexual abuse to the later development of eating disorders.


METHODS
Three anonymous questionnaires--a sexual abuse screening checklist, the Biographic Inventory for Diagnosis of Behavioral Disturbances, and the Eating Disorder Inventory--were distributed to 350 female university students.


RESULTS
Of the 202 women who completed the questionnaires, 44 (21.8%) were victims of childhood sexual abuse. There were no significant differences in the total or the subscale scores on the Eating Disorder Inventory among women with no, one, or repeated incidents of sexual abuse. However, women who reported an adverse family background displayed significantly higher Eating Disorder Inventory total and subscale scores than did women who assessed family background as a secure base.


CONCLUSIONS
The data in this nonclinical female cohort suggest that childhood sexual abuse is neither necessary nor sufficient for the later development of an eating disorder, while an adverse family background may be an important etiological factor.
Department of Psychiatry, Innsbruck University Clinics, Austria.
J F
JF
Kinzl
C
C
Traweger
V
V
Guenther
W
W
Biebl
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000175:diagnosis; D015897:Comorbidity; D005190:Family; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors