It is important to understand the cognitive processes associated with sexual abuse experiences to target treatment for the victims. Evidence to date suggests that those correlates are not yet adequately understood. This study describes an information-processing task that assesses the degree of attentional bias toward words with abusive connotations. In a group of eating-disordered women, this instrument was used to demonstrate that reported sexual abuse was associated with a greater cognitive bias toward abuse-related information. This attentional bias was associated with a greater level of specific self-denigratory beliefs as a result of the abuse. There were no similar associations with beliefs about the motivation of the abuser or of the victim at the time of abuse, or with beliefs about the present-day motives of others. Treatment implications are discussed, although this information-processing measure requires wider validation.
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