The role of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in the relation of body-related victimization to eating-disordered behavior in children and adolescents: A mediational analysis

Previous researchers have highlighted the severity of aggressive weight-related victimization on mental health outcomes, such as eating-disordered behavior. Little is known about the pathways to which victimization is associated with eating-disordered behavior. The current investigator examined whether posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms related to body-related victimization mediate the relation between aggressive body-related victimization and eating-disordered behavior. Specific mediational relations between posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters (i.e., re-experiencing, avoidance, and arousal) and type of eating-disordered behavior (i.e., anorexic and bulimic) were proposed. Participants were 110 adolescent girls, ages 14 to 21, receiving medical, psychological, and nutritional support from a hospital setting providing outpatient, day patient, and inpatient services. Regression analyses support the hypothesis that re-experiencing and avoidance posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms related to body-related victimization frequency, are associated with anorexic behavior, with no mediational support for arousal posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Re-experiencing, avoidance, and arousal posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms related to body-related victimization frequency were also associated with bulimic behavior. Other important findings, as well as clinical implications, limitations to the current analyses, and recommendations for future research are discussed.