Childhood Sexual Abuse and Bulimia

Research and studies conducted have shown that the relationship between sexual abuse and the disorder known as bulimia nervosa are typically the symptoms of many female patients. These women who have suffered childhood sexual abuse, have also suffered from bulimia.

There were two studies presented in this paper. The first was conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, an expert on memory at the University of Washington. The second study was conducted by Dr. Harrison Pope, a psychiatrist at McLean Hospital in Boston. These studies were described in The New York Times newspaper. The author of the newspaper article, Daniel Goleman, proclaims that bulimia is not a symptom or cause of childhood sexual abuse.

In one of the studies, Dr. Harrison Pope gathered women from the United States, Brazil and Austria. There were 91 female subjects. Childhood sexual abuse rates linked to bulimia were compared among these females. In the second study, Dr. Elizabeth Loftus took 105 female subjects from a clinic for substance abuse and compared their ability to recall their memories in relation to childhood sexual abuse.

The researchers only controlled for the factor gender, where as Dr. Harrison Pope also controlled for geographical background. The results of the first study showed that American women who came for treatment of bulimia reported a rate of childhood sexual abuse of 24 percent compared to 36 percent for the general population (Goleman, 1994).

In the second study taken amongst 105 female patients for substance abuse, Dr. Loftus found that 54 percent recalled memories of childhood sexual abuse. Among those who reported childhood sexual abuse, 19 percent said they “forgot” the abuse for some time before remembering it again (Goleman, 1994). It is important to mention that in comparison to Dr. Loftus’s study, Dr. Pope has defined “abuse” in his study in a more general perspective. Therefore providing another insight into how some women perceive abuse.

Based on the article can we conclude that those who have experienced childhood sexual abuse have also experienced bulimia? Put simply, no we cannot. For example, even though the studies controlled for gender, the results are gender biased in the way that men are also victims of childhood sexual abuse as well as bulimia. So this would result in different outcomes in the studies, if men were included. The article fails to include and describe important factors such as the age of the subjects, their health status, and their intelligence or IQ range. Not only did the studies fail to control such variables but also in the first study conducted by Dr. Pope, he did not mention the figures/percentages of the subjects taken from Brazil or Austria. So even though there was an attempt to include geographical background, the outcome was not explained or shown. This brings about quite a bit of confusion to the reader. Furthermore, the article does not mention the hypothesis of the study nor stick to one main idea. Also, there is no mention of how the subjects were chosen.

The studies were correlation and correlation does not determine cause and effect. For example, childhood sexual abuse and bulimia are the two main variables put together in these studies. However, by looking at these two variables, we cannot be one hundred percent certain if childhood sexual abuse causes bulimia, or vice versa, or