Purpose

We aimed to synthesize the evidence for an association between childhood maltreatment and body image disturbances in adulthood. Information on maltreatment subtypes and mediator variables was included to gain further insights into the mechanisms of the association. In addition, we aimed to examine the role of body image disturbances in the development of negative mental health outcomes associated with childhood maltreatment.

Methods

Based on a comprehensive search strategy, eligible studies were identified in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The eligibility assessment was performed by two reviewers, and 132 articles were studied full-text. To reduce heterogeneity, only non-clinical samples were included in the meta-analysis. A meta-regression was computed to examine the influence of maltreatment subtype on body image disturbances.

Results

Our results provide evidence for a robust association between childhood maltreatment and cognitive-affective body image, both in clinical and community samples. Included studies (N = 40) indicate that body image disturbances are especially pronounced in individuals suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after childhood maltreatment. The meta-analysis included 12 studies with a total of 15.481 participants, and indicates a small overall effect size (r = 0.21, 95% CI = [0.16, 0.26], p < .001). Meta-regression revealed no significant impact of maltreatment subtype in non-clinical samples.

Conclusion

Childhood maltreatment should be considered as a distal risk factor for the development of a negative cognitive-affective body image. We argue for future longitudinal studies which allow a better understanding of the pathways linking childhood maltreatment, body image disturbances and associated psychopathology.

中文翻译：

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童年虐待与成年后的身体形象障碍有关吗？系统评价和荟萃分析

目的

我们旨在综合证据表明儿童期虐待与成年期身体形象障碍之间存在关联。包括虐待亚型和中介变量的信息，以进一步了解关联机制。此外，我们旨在研究身体形象障碍在与儿童虐待相关的负面心理健康结果发展中的作用。

方法

基于全面的搜索策略，在 PubMed、Scopus 和 Web of Science 中确定了符合条件的研究。资格评估由两名审稿人进行，对 132 篇文章进行了全文研究。为了减少异质性，荟萃分析仅包括非临床样本。计算元回归以检查虐待亚型对身体形象障碍的影响。

结果

我们的研究结果为临床和社区样本中儿童虐待与认知情感身体形象之间的密切关联提供了证据。纳入的研究 ( N  = 40) 表明，儿童期虐待后遭受创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 的个体的身体形象障碍尤其明显。荟萃分析包括 12 项研究，共有 15.481 名参与者，表明总体效应量较小（r = 0.21, 95% CI = [0.16, 0.26], p  < .001）。元回归显示虐待亚型在非临床样本中没有显着影响。

结论

童年虐待应被视为负面认知情感身体形象发展的远端风险因素。我们主张未来进行纵向研究，以便更好地了解将儿童虐待、身体形象障碍和相关精神病理学联系起来的途径。