ArticleWomen & health2018
Trauma exposure and disordered eating: A qualitative study.
Article in Women & health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Mental health outcomes associated with military sexual trauma in serving and ex-servicewomen: A systematic review.Psychological medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Randomized Controlled Trials to Treat Obesity in Military Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic events, and longitudinal eating disorder treatment outcomes: A systematic review.The International journal of eating disorders · 2023Pooled it
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Weight Loss in Male and Female Active-duty Service Members: A Weight Management Study.Military medicine · 2025Trial
- Lifetime Traumatic Experiences and Disordered Eating among University Students: The Role of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms.BioMed research international · 2018Trial
- "Fulfilling the hunger": A qualitative study to understand the etiology of binge eating in adolescents experiencing food insecurity.Appetite · 2026Article
- Examining the factor structure of the nine-item Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Screen in a national U.S. military veteran sample.Psychological assessment · 2025Article
- Does the link between posttraumatic cognitions and eating pathology depend on trauma type? The role of sexual violence.Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy · 2025Article
- Identifying candidate mechanisms of comorbidity in disordered eating and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among U.S. veterans: A network analytic approach.Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy · 2025Article
- Military sexual trauma, combat trauma, and disordered eating among United States veterans: An exploration of underlying mechanisms.Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2025Article
- Associations between avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder profiles and trauma exposure in veteran men and women.Journal of clinical psychology · 2024Article
- Eating- and Weight-Related Disorders in the Armed Forces.Metabolites · 2024Review
- Food Insecurity Associated with Higher Stress, Depressive Symptoms, and Lower Diet Quality among Women Caregivers in North Carolina.Nutrients · 2024Article
- The forgotten patient: A psychological perspective on the implementation of bariatric surgery guidelines.Obesity science & practice · 2023Review
- Associations between DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder Criterion E2 endorsement and selected self-destructive behaviors in recent-era veterans: A focus on disordered eating.Journal of traumatic stress · 2023Article
- Common Sense Models of Obesity: a Qualitative Investigation of Illness Representations.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2023Article
- Intervention in Older Urban-Dwelling Veterans With Dysmobility: Protocol for a Pilot Feasibility Clinical Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
- Inpatients experiences about the impact of traumatic stress on eating behaviors: an exploratory focus group study.Journal of eating disorders · 2021Article
- Eating Disorders and Overweight/Obesity in Veterans: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Treatment Considerations.Current obesity reports · 2020Review
- Mental Health and Obesity Among Veterans: A Possible Need for Integrated Care.Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Quantitative studies have demonstrated a positive association between trauma exposure and disordered eating. However, reasons for this relationship are unclear. We used qualitative methods to understand why some individuals exposed to trauma report disordered eating. We conducted five focus groups and two dyadic interviews between spring 2013 and fall 2014 with women at a Veterans Health Administration medical center (N = 20). Most participants were recruited from outpatient mental health clinics. Participants completed demographic and psychological questionnaires. Using thematic analysis of transcripts, we identified trauma and disordered eating-related themes. Most participants were women of color (55%), and many reported psychological symptoms (65%). The mean age was 48 years (SD = 15). Thematic analysis resulted in three themes. First, trauma can be associated with disordered eating, often in relation to negative affect and maladaptive thoughts. Second, disordered eating can provide short-term, but not long-term, relief from trauma-related negative affect. Third, disordered eating can provide a mechanism to avoid unwanted attention from potential and past perpetrators of trauma. Trauma-related disordered eating, particularly in relation to sexual trauma, may have a distinct profile. Querying patients about causes of disordered eating when women report trauma histories may help clinicians ensure patients receive appropriate treatment.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.