Childhood Sexual Abuse, Eating Disturbance and Dissociation: A Study in Puerto Rico

ABSTRACT Previous investigations have documented strong associations between eating disorders, dissociation, and childhood sexual abuse (CSA). In this study we examined such a relationship with female Hispanic psychiatric inpatients. Twenty-eight patients with a history of CSA and 28 patients without CSA completed various instruments, among them a survey of eating styles, the Dissociative Experiences Scale, a brief scale of abusive experiences, and a clinical diagnostic interview. One main finding was that patients with CSA reported a significantly greater amount of behavioral, cognitive, and biological symptoms of dysfunctional eating styles. In addition, dissociation was significantly correlated with the severity of CSA and with dysfunctional eating styles. Our findings consistently corroborates that female patients with a history of CSA tend to experience a wide plethora of dysfunctional eating behaviors.