Taking a bite out of the sex trafficking epidemic: Disordered eating symptomology among sex trafficking survivors.

OBJECTIVE

Sex trafficking survivors (STS) experience many negative health outcomes; however, few studies have examined disordered eating (DE) among this population. This report aimed to explore rates of specific DE symptomology in STS compared with nontrafficked women.

METHOD: Participants were recruited from antitrafficking agencies, Amazon Mechanical Turk, and social media. Participants completed surveys assessing DE (Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire), sex trafficking status, and demographics. We conducted correlational analyses and multivariate analyses of variance to examine relationships between demographic variables and Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire subscales (i.e., Restraint, Eating Concern, Shape Concern, Weight Concern). A multivariate analysis of covariance controlling for history of nontrafficking trauma with the predictor of trafficking status and the outcomes of the four Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire subscale scores was also conducted.

RESULTS

Multivariate analysis of covariance results revealed a significant multivariate effect of trafficking status on DE symptoms (Wilks's Λ = .73), F(4, 262) = 25.42, p < .001, partial η² = .27. Follow-up univariate analyses showed significantly higher levels of Restraint (M = 2.78 vs. M = 2.15, p = .004, partial η² = .03), Eating Concern (M = 2.72 vs. M = 1.19, p < .001, partial η² = .19), and Weight Concern (M = 3.38 vs. M = 2.74, p = .002, partial η² = .33) for STS. The largest effect was observed for Eating Concern, with trafficking status explaining 19% of the variance.

CONCLUSIONS

This report highlights nuances of DE symptomology among STS compared to nontrafficked women and demographics that increase risk for subsamples of STS. Findings inform recommendations for aftercare services for STS and future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).