Peculiarities of coping strategies and emotion regulation in relation to abuse experience in eating disordered females

Research show that eating disorders are associated with less adaptive coping strategies and more emotion regulation impairments. Research studies and clinical practice show that eating disorderd females aften are victims of childhood sexual abuse. The main purpose of this study is to investigate peculiarities of stress coping strategies and emotion regulation in relation to childhood sexual abuse experience. 24 (or 39,34 %) eating disordered females reported a history of sexual abuse before age 18. The other two groups consisted of 27 eating disordered women who did not report a history of sexual abuse and 48 students. Beck Depression Inventory and State – Trait Anxiety Inventory were used for evaluation of distress level, Lithuanian Four-Factor Coping with Stress Questionnaire, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and two scales from the Eating Disorders Inventory were used for evaluation of emotion regulation and stress coping peculiarities. Compared with subjects who did not report a history of childhood sexual abuse, females with a history of sexual abuse are less seeking social support in stressfull situations, but don‘t differ in comparison with other coping strategies. Eating disordered females with a history of sexual abuse exhibited lower emotional awareness and more emotion dysregulation: proness to anger outbursts, mood instability. Those who report history of sexual abuse were liky to show bulimic symptoms: binge eating episodes and were more likely to use purging behaviors (such as self-induced vomiting or misuse of laxative). Because overeating and purging behaviors may help to modulate negative internal states, individuals with a history of sexual abuse who develop eating disorders may be more likely to develop purging behaviors, possibly as a way of coping with the negative emotional effects of the abuse. Lasting versus single episode sexual abuse and use of force of threats were prognostic of more interoceptive deficits wich together with emotion dysregulation may lead vulnerable person to engage in maladaptive eating patterns, that may help to regulate intensive affective states. It would be important for eating disordered females learning recognize inner emotional states. Building coping skills and emotion regulation skills may start early in treatment and may make patiens less vulnerable fo relapse