Here at S.E.E.D, we are committed to keeping up to date with the eating disorder and recovery-based research which is being conducted around the world. It is amazing that there are people studying the different causes and effects of these mental illnesses to help better our understanding of how to treat and manage them. Therefore, we want to share some of this incredible work with you!
Until recently, the information we had about eating disorders was limited by the samples used in supporting studies as they often focused on young, white females. Whilst there is still a long way to go, research is now being carried out on more diverse groups, exploring a wider range of eating disorders and also looking at the needs of carers as shown below.
- ‘The experiences of black women with eating disorders’ – this study is being conducted by Sarah Shilingford, a Counselling Psychology Doctoral student at Regent’s College. Sarah aims to identify the potential role of individuals ethnic backgrounds in the development of their eating disorders.
- ‘Role of online support groups in eating disorders’ – this is being conducted by a researcher at University College London and aims to better people’s understanding of the ways in which these services can benefit recovery. As an organisation who runs several support groups both for sufferers and their carers, we are also interested in this study and its findings!
- ‘Binge eating disorder (BED) in men’ – Spyroula Spyrou, a trainee counselling psychologist at London Metropolitan University, aims for this study to diversify research into BED which is largely conducted on all female samples to date, in order to give a voice to men as well as to improve their treatment interventions.
- ‘Dietetic care in eating disorder treatment’ – Nicole Dorrington is at the University of Chester and is currently researching with the aim of improving future relationships between dieticians and patients. She is looking at the challenges that exist in this area and the perceived success of approaches used by comparing the views of recovered patients and practising dieticians.
This is just a handful of the research currently being conducted on eating disorders across the UK. Therefore, we will be sure to update this page regularly with further pieces. Many of these studies are still recruiting volunteers so feel free to check them out if you feel you are in a position to safely do so.
