Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Dec 10:15:1500740.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1500740. eCollection 2024.

Bridging trauma and eating disorders: the role of loneliness

Paolo Meneguzzo  1   2 , Anna Marzotto  3 , Barbara Mezzani  4 , Fabio Conti  5 , Luca Maggi  6 , Patrizia Todisco  3
Affiliations

Bridging trauma and eating disorders: the role of loneliness

Paolo Meneguzzo et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Introduction: Eating disorders (EDs) are complex and often linked to traumatic childhood experiences. While childhood trauma is known to increase the risk of EDs, the role of loneliness remains underexplored. This study investigates whether loneliness mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and ED symptoms.

Methods: A total of 230 individuals with EDs completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire. Mediation analysis was conducted to assess if loneliness mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and ED severity.

Results: Childhood trauma significantly predicted higher levels of loneliness (p < 0.001), which was associated with more severe ED symptoms (p = 0.001), with age and BMI as covariates. Mediation analysis showed loneliness partially mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and ED severity (indirect effect b = 0.003, 95%CI [0.001, 0.006]).

Conclusion: Loneliness partially mediates childhood trauma and ED symptoms, highlighting the need to address loneliness in treatment to mitigate the impact of childhood trauma on ED severity. These findings suggest the possible role of social connection-focused interventions in ED care and contribute to understanding the mechanisms underlying the development of EDs. Future research should explore additional mediators and moderators to provide a more comprehensive perspective.

Keywords: child trauma; eating disorders; loneliness; mediation; psychopathology; trauma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Standardized regression coefficients for the relationship between childhood trauma (CTQ total score) and eating disorder psychopathology (EDEQ global score) as mediated by UCLA Loneliness, corrected for age and BMI. The regression coefficient of the mediation is in parentheses. *p < 0.01; **p <= 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association and others . Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5{\textregistered}). Am Psychiatr Assoc. (2013). doi: 10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 - DOI
    1. Meneguzzo P, Todisco P, Calonaci S, Mancini C, Dal Brun D, Collantoni E, et al. . Health-related quality of life assessment in eating disorders: adjustment and validation of a specific scale with the inclusion of an interpersonal domain. Eating Weight Disord. (2020) 26:2251–62. doi: 10.1007/s40519-020-01081-5 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Forbush KT, Hagan KE, Kite BA, Chapa DAN, Bohrer BK, Gould SR. Understanding eating disorders within internalizing psychopathology: A novel transdiagnostic, hierarchical-dimensional model. Compr Psychiatry. (2017) 79:40–52. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2017.06.009 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Culbert KM, Racine SE, Klump KL. Research Review: What we have learned about the causes of eating disorders - A synthesis of sociocultural, psychological, and biological research. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. (2015) 56:1141–64. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12441 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Monteleone AM, Cascino G, Pellegrino F, Ruzzi V, Patriciello G, Marone L, et al. . The association between childhood maltreatment and eating disorder psychopathology: A mixed-model investigation. Eur Psychiatry. (2019) 61:111–8. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2019.08.002 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources