OBJECTIVES: The aims of this pilot study were to determine the
feasibility and scientific merit of coordinating a large-scale
investigation of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in outpatient-eating
disordered women and to evaluate the usefulness and potential adverse
effects of a semistructured trauma interview. METHOD: The sample was
randomly selected from subjects participating in a naturalistic
longitudinal study of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa
(BN). The refusal rate was 26%. Twenty women with DSM-III-R AN/BN were
assessed with the traumatic antecedents interview (TAI); a brief
semistructured follow-up interview was administered over the telephone
3 to 8 weeks after the first interview. Subjects also completed the
Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). RESULTS: Thirteen subjects (65%)
reported CSA, and those with more comorbidity reported CSA more
frequently. Subjects with a history of CSA had significantly higher
scores on the DES. Minimal adverse consequences to the TAI were
noted. CONCLUSIONS: The high compliance rate, high prevalence of CSA,
and high DES scores among our pilot sample support the merit of
studying CSA in a larger sample.