Date of Award
6-2020
Document Type
Union College Only
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Professor Catherine Walker
Keywords
eating disorders, sexual assault
Abstract
The present study examined sexual assault (SA) on college campuses in comparison to childhood SA (CSA) experiences in relation to eating disorder pathology. CSA experiences are correlated to the adolescent and early adulthood onset of eating disorder pathology, namely binge-eating disorder (Dworkin et al., 2014; Dyer, et al., 2013; Harned & Fitzgerald, 2002; Hund & Espelage, 2005; Lejonclou, Nilsson, & Holmqvist, 2014; Minnich, et al. 2017; Root, 1991). The study utilized the Sexual Experiences Survey - Short Form Version (SES-SFV) with edited age ranges and locations (0-13, 14-17, 18+ and college campuses), the Eating Disorder Examination - Questionnaire (EDE-Q), and the Multidimensional Body Self-Relations Questionnaire - Appearance Subscales (MBSRQ-AS). Participants were recruited via the Mechanical Turk Amazon platform to complete the online survey. The present study tested three hypotheses. The study conducted a multiple regression analysis was conducted to test the first hypothesis, to determine if a history of CSA in the 0-13 and the 14-17 age ranges, serve as predictive variables for the occurrence of clinical and subclinical symptoms of eating disorder pathology, in order to replicate past findings. As per the second hypothesis, a multiple regression analysis was completed to determine if a history of both CSA and ASA present in the same individual serves as a predictive variable of greater significance with eating disorder pathology than a history of either CSA or ASA alone. For the third hypothesis, another linear regression analysis was completed to determine if SA on college campuses is predictive of clinical and subclinical eating disorder pathology. Results are significant across all three hypotheses with p-values less than .05. These results may be able to inform resources, interventions, and preventative measures available for individuals with SA experiences and eating disorder pathology across different age ranges, and specifically on college campuses.
Recommended Citation
Burmester, Jacquelynn, "Campus Sexual Assault and the Onset of Subclinical Eating Disorder Symptoms in Men and Women" (2020). Honors Theses. 2491.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/2491
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