Childhood abuse represents a traumatic experience that can lead to the development of internalizing and/or externalizing problems in adulthood. This research investigates the presence of traumatic experiences and insecure attachment states in a group of 40 women with Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Results show that most of the subjects had traumatic experiences of childhood abuse and has an insecure internal working model of attachment. Difficulties in emotional regulation of subjects with BED seem to lead to a use of food as a regulator of their negative emotional states, in the absence of self-regulatory capacity.
Keywords: Key words: trauma, attachment, eating disorders, internalizing and externalizing behaviors