Association of sexual abuse and borderline personality disorder in eating disordered women.

It has been shown that sexual abuse is associated with the eating disorders, particularly those with a bulimic component. Existing research suggests that borderline personality disorder (or the cluster of behaviors behind this diagnosis) may be a mediating factor in that link. However, there is no evidence of specific patterns of association between the three phenomena. The present report studies these links in a case series of 115 eating-disordered women. It is shown that the links between and reported sexual abuse and borderline personality disorder vary according to the nature of the eating disorder. In particular, they were associated in anorexia of the bulimic subtype, but not in bulimia nervosa or in restrictive anorexia. The possible therapeutic implications of these findings are discussed.