title: [History of sexual abuse in patients with bulimia nervosa: its influence on clinical status].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Studies analyzing the relationship between sexual abuse and bulimia nervosa (BN) have reported discrepant results. This study aimed to assess the role of a history of sexual abuse in the clinical status of a group of patients diagnosed of BN using DSM-IV diagnostic criteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy patients with BN were assessed using specific clinical tools: Eating Attitudes Test-40 items (EAT-40), Bulimia Investigation Test Edinburgh (BITE), Symptom Checklist (SCL-90), Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II), Sixteen Personality Factors Test (16-PF) and a clinical interview for the assessment of past and current substance abuse. The data from the 15 patients with a history of sexual abuse (21.4 % of the sample) were compared with those from the 55 patients without such a history.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both groups were very similar regarding symptom severity. Only the tendency to somatization and higher scores in the factor E of the 16-PF (dominance) were associated with antecedents of sexual abuse in the sample.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results support the idea that sexual abuse may be related to higher non-specific vulnerability to psychopathology, but do not increase symptom severity in BN patients.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina de Badajoz, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario, Badajoz, Spain. fjvaz@unex.es
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Vaz Leal
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Guisado Macías
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: García-Herraiz
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: López Vinuesa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monge Bautista
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bolívar Perálvarez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index