Sensation seeking, binge-type eating disorders, victimization, and PTSD in the National Women's Study

Eating Behaviors
T D BrewertonD G Kilpatrick

Abstract

Higher degrees of sensation seeking (SS) are reported in community and clinical samples of individuals with eating disorders with binge-type features (BTEDs), but no reports exist in representative probability samples of adult women. Additionally, SS has been linked to victimization and PTSD, also associated with BTEDs, yet interrelationships between these variables are unexplored. A national, probability sample of 3006 adult women (≥18 y/o) completed structured telephone interviews including assessments for victimization, PTSD, bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED). The survey included the 6 items of the Disinhibition-Intentions for the Future (DIF) subscale of Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale-VI, which asks how likely participants would be to engage in given activities. Total SS score (TSSS-DIFS) was the sum of the 6 items' scores. Differences among the 3 groups (BN, BED, non-BN/BED) were compared using ANOVA covaried by age and post-hoc t-tests. Multiple regression tested the effects of age, number of victimization experiences (NVE), lifetime PTSD, and BTEDs on TSSS-DIFS. There were significant differences in TSSS-DIFS across BTED diagnoses (p ≤ .001). Participants with BN (p ≤ .002) and those with BED (p ≤...Continue Reading

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