Trauma, binge eating, and the "strong Black woman"

The primary goal of this study was to test a culturally specific model of binge eating in African American female trauma survivors, investigating potential mechanisms through which trauma exposure and distress were related to binge eating symptomatology.

Participants were 179 African American female trauma survivors who completed questionnaires about traumatic experiences; emotional inhibition/regulation difficulties; self-silencing (prioritizing others' needs and adopting external self-evaluation standards); eating for psychological reasons; binge eating; and internalization of "Strong Black Woman" (SBW) ideology, an important cultural symbol emphasizing strength and self-sufficiency.

Structural path analysis supported the proposed model in which SBW ideology, emotional inhibition/regulation difficulties, and eating for psychological reasons mediated the relationship between trauma exposure/distress and binge eating. The proposed model provided better fit to the data than several competing models.

These findings suggest that among African American trauma survivors, trauma exposure and distress predict greater internalization of SBW ideology, which is associated with emotional inhibition/regulation difficulties, eating for psychological reasons, and ultimately binge eating. Implications of these findings for assessment, treatment, and prevention efforts are discussed.