Brief report: maltreatment in childhood and body concerns in adulthood.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the relationship between maltreatment in childhood and body concerns in adulthood.


METHODS
A community sample of 156 women and 143 men completed measures of maltreatment - frequency of sexual abuse, physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse and emotional neglect - in childhood. They also reported current dissatisfaction with body weight and shape and drive for thinness and drive for muscle.


CONCLUSIONS
Childhood maltreatment was associated with drive for muscle in women and body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness in men. The results provide some evidence that adverse conditions in childhood can be associated with gender-atypical body concerns in adulthood.
Deakin University, Australia.
Leah
L
Brooke
Alexander J
AJ
Mussap
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D057215:Body Dysmorphic Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult