Compensatory Weight Control Behaviors of Women in Emerging Adulthood: Associations Between Childhood Abuse Experiences and Adult Relationship Avoidance.

CHILD abuse; EATING disorders; INTERPERSONAL relations; REGULATION of body weight; ANALYSIS of variance; STATISTICAL correlation; DATING (Social customs); PSYCHOLOGICAL distress; MOTIVATION (Psychology); PSYCHOLOGICAL tests; QUESTIONNAIRES; T-test (Statistics); WOMEN; LOGISTIC regression analysis; PREDICTIVE validity; UNDERGRADUATES; STATISTICAL models; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; PSYCHOLOGY; HISTORY; DISEASE risk factors

Objective: To examine correlates of compensatory weight control behaviors among women in transition between adolescence and adulthood.Participants: The authors recruited a sample of undergraduate women (N= 759) at a large northwestern university during the 2009–2010 academic year.Methods: Logistic regression was used to assess relations among childhood abuse, psychosocial functioning, adult dating relationship factors, and women's endorsement of compensatory weight control behaviors.Results: The final model reliably distinguished between participants who endorsed versus denied use of compensatory behaviors (χ2[5,N= 747] = 36.37,p< .001), with global psychosocial functioning and relationship avoidance accounting for the most variance.Conclusions: These findings illustrate the importance of considering childhood abuse histories and adult relationships while assessing young women's compensatory weight control behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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