Abuse in Adult Relationships of Bulimic Women

Abstract

The presence of abuse (repeated physical battery) was investigated in the adult relationships of 20 bulimic women and 17 control women. Significantly more bulimic women than controls reported having been in relationships in which repeated physical battery occurred. Both battered and nonbattered bulimic women scored significantly higher than controls on measures of eating and self-esteem-related pathology. Battered bulimic women were significantly more depressed than controls. Battery was also associated with self-blame. It is proposed that these women represent a more severely distressed subgroup of bulimic women. Further, similarities between these women's destructive relationship to both food and the batterer are considered. There has been substantial focus on childhood physical and sexual abuse in bulimic women, but in this study the focus is on the need for heightened sensitivity to the presence and implications of recurrent abusive experiences in their adult interpersonal relationships.