Revictimization from Childhood to Adulthood and Disordered Eating in Women
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2023-09-17
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Abstract
Revictimization, defined as risk for and those who have experienced subsequent trauma following initial trauma exposure, has been gaining research attention due to its myriad of psychological consequences; however, less is known about its link with disordered eating. Women are particularly vulnerable to both revictimization and disordered eating. The purpose of this dissertation study was to investigate the association between revictimization from childhood to adulthood and disordered eating among women and the mediating role of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and complex posttraumatic symptoms (CPTSS) in these relationships. As difficulties in emotion regulation are implicated in disordered eating and trauma symptoms, it was also examined whether the link between revictimization, trauma-related symptoms, and disordered eating were stronger if women exhibited higher emotion regulation impairment. This was assessed by conducting moderated mediation using structural equation modelling (SEM). A total sample of 563 women between 19 to 65 years of age were recruited from an online research participation platform (Prolific) and completed an online survey comprised of several self-report measures, such as the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale – Short Form, Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, International Trauma Questionnaire, and a victimization and revictimization questionnaire created for this study. Results of the SEM moderated mediation analysis found that revictimization was significantly associated with higher disordered eating in women. The findings also indicated that CPTSS mediated the link between revictimization and disordered eating, while emotion regulation did not moderate the pathways from revictimization to CPTSS and CTPSS to disordered eating. Post-hoc analyses revealed that emotion regulation difficulties significantly mediated the effects of revictimization on disordered eating. Together, these findings highlight the need for more integrated evidence-based interventions to address revictimization and disordered eating in women with such comorbid presentations.
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Nieborowska, V. (2023). Revictimization from childhood to adulthood and disordered eating in women (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.