The Bulimic Investigatory Test, Edinburgh, is a screening measure that assesses the probability of an individual meeting the diagnostic criteria for the disease. Participants also completed the Sexual Life Events Questionnaire, comprised of items relating to family relations, family history, and childhood sexual abuse. Two measures designed to look specifically at family functioning were the Dissociative Experiences Scale and the Childhood Family Mealtime Questionnaire. The findings showed that the bulimic group experienced significantly more incidents of childhood sexual abuse after age 12 with a family member or relative. Bulimics also seemed to have been abused more frequently before the age of 12 than the members of the control group. Elevated sexual abuse rates could explain the negative body concepts held by bulimic women, as well as the higher frequency of same-gender sexual experiences reported by the experimental group. The bulimics dissociated more frequently than the control group and also reported that family mealtimes were stressful, indicating a possible association between food-related stress and the onset of bulimia. 1 figure and 37 references