ABNORMAL VISUAL CORTICAL DEVELOPMENT IN YOUNG WOMEN WITH A HISTORY OF REPEATED CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE: A VOXEL-BASED MORPHOMETRIC STUDY

BackgroundChildhood sexual abuse (CSA) is found to have occurred to a substantial minority of women with bulimia nervosa. Its clinical significance is unclear.MethodWe studied 87 bulimic women in a clinical trial. Structured interviews determined the presence of CSA, DSM–III–R disorders, global functioning, and depressive and bulimic symptoms.ResultsForty-four per cent reported a history of CSA. Bulimic women with CSA reported earlier onset of bulimia, greater depressive symptoms, worse global functioning and more suicide attempts, and were more likely to meet criteria for bipolar II disorder, alcohol and drug dependence, conduct disorder and avoidant personality disorder.ConclusionsAlthough those with CSA had greater comorbidity, it was not an important modifier of bulimic symptoms.

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Is there a Relationship between Sexual Abuse or Incest and Eating Disorders?

The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/070674378603100711 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 31 (7) ◽

pp. 656-660 ◽

Cited By ~ 67

Author(s):

G. Sloan ◽

P. Leichner

Keyword(s):

Eating Disorders ◽

Sexual Abuse ◽

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

Present Article ◽

Sexual Trauma ◽

Early History ◽

Eating Disordered ◽

Sexual Conflicts ◽

History Of

The significance of sexual conflicts in many patients with eating disorders has been well documented. However, even when these have been considered to have some degree of etiological importance, the occurrence of actual sexual trauma or incest in the early lives of these patients has been generally neglected in the literature. At one point in time, it was noted that five of six patients on an inpatient unit for eating disorders revealed an early history of sexual abuse or incest. These five cases are described. A parallel is drawn between the psychological problems experienced by victims of childhood sexual abuse and by patients with anorexia nervosa and/or bulimia. Our suspicion that these experiences may not be atypical led to the present article, which has implications for the investigation and management of eating-disordered patients.

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Forgetting of Trauma Cues in Adults Reporting Continuous or Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Psychological Science ◽

10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.01536.x ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 336-340 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Richard J. McNally ◽

Carel S. Ristuccia ◽

Carol A. Perlman

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Childhood Sexual Abuse ◽

Divided Attention ◽

Adult Survivors ◽

Memory Deficits ◽

Recovered Memory ◽

Recovered Memories ◽

Betrayal Trauma ◽

History Of ◽

Memory Group

According to betrayal trauma theory, adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) who were molested by their caretakers (e.g., a father) are especially likely to dissociate (“repress”) their memories of abuse. Testing college students, some reporting CSA, DePrince and Freyd (2004) found that those scoring high on a dissociation questionnaire exhibited memory deficits for trauma words when they viewed these words under divided-attention conditions. Replicating DePrince and Freyd's procedure, we tested for memory deficits for trauma words relative to neutral words in adults reporting either continuous or recovered memories of CSA versus adults denying a history of CSA. A memory deficit for trauma words under divided attention was expected in the recovered-memory group. Results were inconsistent with this prediction, as all three groups exhibited better recall of trauma words than neutral words, irrespective of encoding conditions.

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