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Vulnerability to acute psychosocial stress in subjects with eating disorders and history of childhood trauma: experimental evidence of a “Maltreated Ecophenotype”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

E. Barone ,
M. Carfagno ,
A.M. Monteleone ,
V. Ruzzi ,
F. Pellegrino ,
N. Marafioti  and
R. Toricco
E. Barone*
Affiliation:
University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Department Of Psychiatry, Naples, Italy
M. Carfagno
Affiliation:
University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Department Of Psychiatry, Naples, Italy
A.M. Monteleone
Affiliation:
University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Department Of Psychiatry, Naples, Italy
V. Ruzzi
Affiliation:
University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Department Of Psychiatry, Naples, Italy
F. Pellegrino
Affiliation:
University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Department Of Psychiatry, Naples, Italy
N. Marafioti
Affiliation:
University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Department Of Psychiatry, Naples, Italy
R. Toricco
Affiliation:
Università degli studi della Campania “L.Vanvitelli”, Psichiatria, napoli, Italy
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Subjects with eating disorders (ED) show a high prevalence of childhood trauma.

Objectives

Aim of the study is to evaluate the emotional, biological and behavioral responses to an experimental acute psychosocial stress in subjects with ED with or without childhood maltreatment. Secondary aim is to evaluate the effects of different traumatic experiences (physical and emotional).

Methods

48 women with ED completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). 29 participants (14 with Anorexia Nervosa [AN] and 15 with Bulimia Nervosa [BN]) reported an history of childhood maltreatment, while 19 (11 with AN and 8 with BN) did not. Cortisol levels, anxiety and hunger perceptions have been assessed in all participants throughout the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) as well as body dissatisfaction after stress exposure.

Results

Subjects with childhood trauma showed higher emotional reactivity and body dissatisfaction and lower hunger throughout the TSST than those without childhood trauma. Higher cortisol levels were observed in patients with AN, regardless of the presence of childhood trauma, and in those with BN and history of emotional trauma. Emotional trauma was the childhood trauma explaining most of the observed differences.

Conclusions

Childhood trauma, especially emotional one, can lead to vulnerability to interpersonal stress in individuals with ED. The present study is the first that supports the “maltreated ecophenotype” hypothesis in subjects with ED through an experimental task and the evaluation of multiple levels of response. These data may provide new prospectives on the pathogenetic mechanisms of ED and novel therapeutic implications.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

TSSTmaltreated ecophenotypeED
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S151
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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