Authors: Anna Trollmann
Mentors: Chris Anderson
Insitution: Utah Valley University
Past research has found positive correlations between childhood abuse and the likelihood of developing eating disorders later in life. Much of the research previously composed primarily focuses on specific categories of abuse, including sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and witnessing domestic violence. Feelings of loneliness are often studied in relation to eating disorder behaviors, specifically binge eating disorder (BED). Scarcely any research delivers studies of former college students with a specific focus on introspection regarding feelings of being unloved. The goal of this research project is to understand the correlation between feeling unloved and neglected with eating disorder behaviors. This UVU IRB-approved study (IRB Protocol #939) will use data from 6,000 randomly selected UVU current and former College of Humanities and Social Science (2014-2021) that were sent an email with a survey link. The survey assessed the past Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) related to feeling loved in childhood and their eating habits. The large sample size of this study will help support any findings in this research. Using former Utah college students in this study creates limitations as they are likely to be higher educated and younger than the general population. The results of this research could be relevant to the treatment of eating disorders, the detection of children at risk of eating disorders, and the consequences of feeling unloved in childhood.