Eating attitudes in survivors of unwanted sexual experiences

To investigate an hypothesized link between unwanted sexual experiences in childhood and later problems with eating, 21 survivors of sexual abuse completed three questionnaires: the Eating Attitudes Test, the Sexual Events Questionnaire, and the General Health Questionnaire. These women scored high on the EAT, and scores were higher for women who reported more sexual experiences. A similar relation was found between number of sexual experiences and depression, and anxiety and insomnia, but not with somatic symptoms. The implications of these findings for intervention in sexual abuse and eating disorder cases are discussed.