Bullying, Sexual Abuse may Trigger Binge Eating

Binge eating and smoking were linked to bullying and sexual abuse, found new study.

People who suffered bullying or sexual abuse were found to have reduced quality of life and more likely to display harmful behaviours like smoking dependence and binge eating, revealed new study from the University of Adelaide.

The study, published in BMC Public Health, investigated around 3000 South Australians who took part in face-to-face interviews using self-labelling questions to measure the age of onset and duration of bullying and sexual assault and their outcomes during home interviews.

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‘In Australia almost half of all adults have experienced bullying and 10% have experienced some form of sexual abuse, and these experiences have had long-term effects on harmful behaviours, depression and quality of life.’

The study included participants of all ages, urban and rural settings and socioeconomic levels living in South Australia.

While 60-70% of these forms of abuse occurred in childhood or adolescence, they were associated with worse outcomes later in life.

"Sexual abuse and bullying were related to harmful behaviours like smoking dependence and binge eating, antidepressant use, and reduced quality of life,'' Dr Gonzalez-Chica says.

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When a person overeats, he is unable to control his hunger pangs, while during an emotional/binge eating session, he is incapable of controlling his emotions.

"Those who suffered bullying and sexual abuse were three times more likely to be binge eaters than people who had never experienced these forms of abuse.

"Antidepressant use was up to four times more likely and smoking dependence was twice as frequent."

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If someone had two or more adverse outcomes (smoking dependence, binge eating, antidepressant use, and a lower quality of life) the probability they had suffered bullying and/or sexual abuse ranged between 60-85%.

"Talking about an experience of bullying or sexual abuse in a face-to-face interview is very complicated because of the sensitive nature of these questions," Dr Gonzalez-Chica says. "The study showed that it is feasible to use such kind of short but well-structured questions instead of long questionnaires to explore these issues.

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This is particularly relevant for medical appointments where there is limited time for exploring so many different outcomes.

"If a doctor finds a patient with multiple harmful behaviours - like smoking dependence and binge eating - who is depressed and has a lower quality of life, they should consider exploring whether these patients were victims of bullying and/or sexual abuse, as according to our results it is very likely they suffered from these forms of abuse.

"Identifying survivors of both forms of abuse is important to provide support and reduce more severe mental and physical consequences, such as suicide."

Source-Eurekalert