Department of Psychology, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Eat Disord. 2023 May-Jun;31(3):285-299. doi: 10.1080/10640266.2022.2133586. Epub 2022 Oct 14.
Despite increasing rates of sexual assault in the military and high rates of disordered eating and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans, little is known about how these constructs are related. This study examined whether PTSD symptoms mediate the relation between military sexual assault and disordered eating among female veterans. United States female veterans ( = 98) completed self-report measures assessing military sexual assault, PTSD, and disordered eating. Results indicated that military sexual assault was associated with higher PTSD symptoms and disordered eating. PTSD symptoms did not mediate the relation between military sexual assault and overall levels of disordered eating. However, PTSD symptoms fully mediated the relation between military sexual assault and the Bulimia and Food Preoccupation subscale of the Eating Attitudes Test-26. Findings suggest that military sexual assault may contribute to the development of bulimia nervosa symptoms indirectly through PTSD symptoms. Thus, the findings do not support a global relationship between trauma and all facets of disordered eating, but demonstrate a relationship between PTSD and bulimia nervosa symptoms, with purging potentially functioning as an emotion regulation strategy. Future longitudinal studies are needed to establish temporal precedence of these associations.
尽管军人中的性侵犯发生率不断上升，退伍军人中的饮食失调和创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）发生率也很高，但人们对这些结构之间的关系知之甚少。本研究考察了 PTSD 症状是否在女性退伍军人的性侵犯与饮食失调之间起中介作用。98 名美国女性退伍军人完成了自我报告的评估，包括军事性侵犯、PTSD 和饮食失调。结果表明，性侵犯与更高的 PTSD 症状和饮食失调有关。PTSD 症状并不能调节性侵犯与整体饮食失调之间的关系。然而，PTSD 症状完全调节了性侵犯与饮食态度测验-26 的暴食和食物关注子量表之间的关系。研究结果表明，性侵犯可能通过 PTSD 症状间接导致神经性贪食症症状的发展。因此，这些发现并不支持创伤与饮食失调所有方面之间的整体关系，而是表明 PTSD 与神经性贪食症症状之间存在关系，可能通过暴食来作为一种情绪调节策略。未来需要进行纵向研究，以确定这些关联的时间顺序。
