Bullying and sexual abuse linked to binge eating, smoking

Sexual abuse and bullying are related to harmful behaviours like smoking dependence, binge eating, antidepressant use, and reduced quality of life, a recent study suggests.

The research suggests that people who suffered from bullying or sexual abuse have a lower quality of life, similar to those living with chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, depression or severe anxiety.

These people are also far more likely to display harmful behaviours like smoking dependence and binge eating.

The study, published in BMC Public Health, investigated around 3,000 South Australians who took part in face-to-face interviews using self-labelling questions to measure the age of onset and duration of bullying and sexual assault and their outcomes during home interviews.

The study included participants of all ages, urban and rural settings and socioeconomic levels living in South Australia.

"In Australia, almost half of all adults have experienced bullying and 10 per cent have experienced some form of sexual abuse, and these experiences have had long-term effects on harmful behaviours, depression and quality of life," the lead author of the study, David Gonzalez-Chica said.

Explaining further Gonzalez-Chica added, "Sexual abuse and bullying were related to harmful behaviours like smoking dependence and binge eating, antidepressant use, and reduced quality of life. Those who suffered bullying and sexual abuse were three times more likely to be binge eaters than people who had never experienced these forms of abuse. Antidepressant use was up to four times more likely and smoking dependence was twice as frequent."

If someone had two or more adverse outcomes (smoking dependence, binge eating, antidepressant use, and a lower quality of life) the probability they had suffered bullying and/or sexual abuse ranged between 60-85 per cent.

"Talking about an experience of bullying or sexual abuse in a face-to-face interview is very complicated because of the sensitive nature of these questions. The study showed that it is feasible to use such kind of short but well-structured questions instead of long questionnaires to explore these issues," Gonzalez-Chica said.

This is particularly relevant for medical appointments where there is limited time for exploring so many different outcomes.

According to the researchers, if a doctor finds a patient with multiple harmful behaviours - like smoking dependence and binge eating - who is depressed and has a lower quality of life, they should consider exploring whether these patients were victims of bullying and/or sexual abuse, as according to their results it is very likely they suffered from abuse.

Identifying survivors of both forms of abuse is important to provide support and reduce more severe mental and physical consequences, such as suicide, the researchers suggested.