Emotional Abuse, Neglect in Eating Disorders and their Relationship with Emotion Regulation ★

Childhood abuse is a significant predictor of a subsequent emergence of symptoms of eating disorders. This study was aimed at examining the importance of emotional abuse and neglect in eating disorders (anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa) as well as at verifying the role of emotion regulation deficit as a mediating mechanism in this relationship. It is hypothesized that emotional abuse has an indirect influence on the development of the subsequent eating pathology through maladaptive emotion regulation abilities. A questionnaire study was conducted on three samples of female subjects aged 16 to 19 years. Two samples consisted of patients diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa while the third sample included healthy control subjects. Two questionnaires were used in the study: the Child Abuse and Trauma Scale and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Significant differences were found between the group of patients with eating disorder and the healthy control group regarding difficulties in emotion regulation, neglect and emotional abuse. A significant difference was found between the anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa groups regarding the two forms of abuse. Finally, a close relationship was demonstrated between childhood emotional abuse and difficulties in emotion regulation. Results of this study support the hypothesis that emotional abuse and neglect influence the emergence of eating disorders. Furthermore, results suggest that emotion regulation disorder is a possible mediator of the relationship of emotional abuse and neglect with eating disorders. The relevance to clinical practice is also presented in this paper.