Sexual violence, weight perception, and eating disorder indicators in college females

ABSTRACT

Objective: To examine the relationships between sexual violence experiences, inaccurate body weight perceptions, and the presence of eating disorder (ED) indicators in a sample of female US college students. Participants: Participants were 6,090 college females 25 years of age and younger. Methods: A secondary analysis of National College Health Assessment data gathered annually at one institution from 2004 to 2013 was utilized. A model predicting ED indicators was tested using logistic regression analyses with multiple categorical variables representing severity of sexual violence, accuracy of body weight perception, and an interaction between the two. Results: Sexual violence and inaccurate body weight perception significantly predicted ED indicators; sexual violence was the strongest predictor of purging behavior, whereas inaccurate body weight perception was best predicted by underweight status. Conclusions: Findings provide support to the relationship between purging behavior and severity of sexual violence and also to the link between inaccurate body weight perception and being underweight.

KEYWORDS:

• Body weight perception, college
• eating disorder
• eating disorder indicators
• sexual violence
• unwanted sexual experiences

Disclaimer

The opinions, findings, and conclusions presented/reported in this article/presentation are those of the author(s), and are in no way meant to represent the corporate opinions, views, or policies of the American College Health Association (ACHA). ACHA does not warrant nor assume any liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information presented in this article/presentation.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board Florida State University.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.