Silent scars: psychopathology networks across cumulative childhood trauma exposure and the role of shame about eating
- 1School of Psychology, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK
- 2Psychology Department, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iași, Romania
Abstract
Background: Childhood trauma is associated with eating disorder (ED) psychopathology and broader transdiagnostic symptoms, yet the role of shame about eating remains overlooked. This study examined psychopathology networks across cumulative childhood trauma exposure, focusing on internal and external shame about eating.Methods: A sample of 624 Romanian adults from the community completed self-report measures of childhood trauma, EDs, shame about eating, mentalisation, alexithymia, post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, insomnia, dissociative experiences, and psychotic-like experiences. Participants were grouped according to whether they reported no moderate-to-severe trauma, one trauma domain, or multiple trauma domains. Networks were estimated using Spearman correlations and EBICglasso regularisation. Community structure, expected influence, bridge expected influence, and network comparison analyses were conducted.Results: Across groups, shame about eating was embedded within ED psychopathology. Internal shame was most central in the multiple-domain trauma network, where it showed the highest expected influence and was more central than in the no-trauma network. Interoceptive deficits, PTSD, personal alienation, depression, and alexithymia also showed high centrality and bridge centrality. The multiple-domain network showed a distinct dissociative and psychotic-like experiences community.Conclusion: Shame about eating represents an important but under-recognised component of ED psychopathology, particularly in the context of cumulative childhood trauma exposure, where it shows a distinctive pattern of associations with ED behaviours and other mental health symptoms.
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BibTeX
@article{fino2026silent,
title = {{Silent scars: psychopathology networks across cumulative childhood trauma exposure and the role of shame about eating}},
author = {Emanuele Fino and Simona A. Popușoi and Chérie Armour and Leah Browne and Andrei C. Holman},
journal = {European Journal of Psychotraumatology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1080/20008066.2026.2717062},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2026.2717062},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Silent scars: psychopathology networks across cumulative childhood trauma exposure and the role of shame about eating
AU - Emanuele Fino
AU - Simona A. Popușoi
AU - Chérie Armour
AU - Leah Browne
AU - Andrei C. Holman
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - European Journal of Psychotraumatology
DO - 10.1080/20008066.2026.2717062
UR - https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2026.2717062
AB - Background: Childhood trauma is associated with eating disorder (ED) psychopathology and broader transdiagnostic symptoms, yet the role of shame about eating remains overlooked. This study examined psychopathology networks across cumulative childhood trauma exposure, focusing on internal and external shame about eating.Methods: A sample of 624 Romanian adults from the community completed self-report measures of childhood trauma, EDs, shame about eating, mentalisation, alexithymia, post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, insomnia, dissociative experiences, and psychotic-like experiences. Participants were grouped according to whether they reported no moderate-to-severe trauma, one trauma domain, or multiple trauma domains. Networks were estimated using Spearman correlations and EBICglasso regularisation. Community structure, expected influence, bridge expected influence, and network comparison analyses were conducted.Results: Across groups, shame about eating was embedded within ED psychopathology. Internal shame was most central in the multiple-domain trauma network, where it showed the highest expected influence and was more central than in the no-trauma network. Interoceptive deficits, PTSD, personal alienation, depression, and alexithymia also showed high centrality and bridge centrality. The multiple-domain network showed a distinct dissociative and psychotic-like experiences community.Conclusion: Shame about eating represents an important but under-recognised component of ED psychopathology, particularly in the context of cumulative childhood trauma exposure, where it shows a distinctive pattern of associations with ED behaviours and other mental health symptoms.
SN - 2000-8066
ER -