Take part in eating disorders research

Recovering from an eating disorder can be especially challenging in today’s society, where a strong focus on health has given rise to various societal health trends. Trends like clean eating, the promotion of idealised athletic bodies on social media, and the widespread use of weight loss injections (often without medical need) are marketed as ways to be ‘healthy’. However, these trends can make recovery harder by promoting restrictive diets, food monitoring, and intense exercise, which often conflict with recovery goals.

Whilst diet culture’s impact on eating disorder recovery is well-researched, less is known about how societal health trends affect recovery. This study aims to fill that gap by exploring how people experience recovery whilst surrounded by these trends and the challenges they face.

This study is looking for people who:

• Identify as recovered from an eating disorder or recovering from an eating disorder, for a minimum of 6 months (no diagnosis required)
• Live in the UK
• Are aged 18 and above

To express interest or to find out more information, please contact Alice at this email address: u2631809@uel.ac.uk

Have you experienced psychological therapy for an eating disorder? Researchers at the University of Bath want to hear what your therapist did that was helpful or unhelpful.

"We are looking for people who have experienced psychological therapies for eating disorders to complete an interview or an online survey. You will be asked questions about things your therapist said and did in therapy, and how that affected you.

We want to hear from people who have experienced any kind of psychological individual/ family therapy for any kind of eating disorder, which ended within the last three years. Examples might include CBT, family therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, SSCM, MANTRA, DBT, CAT, schema therapy, CFT or some other kind of psychological therapy (or you may not know exactly what kind of therapy it was).

We want to include people who had a range of outcomes from their therapy, including people who made positive change or recovered, didn’t make any change, got worse, or stopped going to therapy early.

We hope to talk to people from a range of gender, ethnicity and cultural backgrounds, so everyone is very welcome.

If you would like to find out more about the study or take part, follow
This link for the interview study:
https://uniofbath.questionpro.eu/EDtherapyinterviews
 
This link to complete the online survey: https://uniofbath.questionpro.eu/edtherapysurvey

Participants in the survey will be entered into a prize draw to win a £20 Amazon voucher as a thank-you.
Interview participants will receive a £20 Amazon voucher.

Researcher: Dr Jasmin Langdon-Daly, Clinical Psychologist & Senior Lecturer, University of Bath.

Want to learn new ways of coping with difficult thoughts and feelings you have about your body and how to adopt a body-neutral mindset?

Who? Young people aged 13-21 years old anywhere in the UK.

Help psychologists at the University of Bath test out an online programme designed to explore the thoughts and feelings young people have about their body and join the Body Neutrality Movement! You will learn about a body-neutral mindset, how to cope with these difficult thoughts and feelings and inspire others along the way! All by answering a few questions and without having to talk to anyone. You’ll even have the opportunity to build your own body neutrality action plan along the way!

Participants are invited to engage with a 30-minute, anonymous, online activity.

All participants can opt to be entered into a prize draw to win a £25 Amazon voucher.

Extra info

University of Bath Research Ethics Committee approval ref 5950-11850

Recruitment end date: 01/03/2026. Study end date: 01/05/2027

Researcher name: Abigail Targett at2877@bath.ac.uk

Supervisor name(s): Maria Loades mel26@bath.ac.uk & Tom Barry tb2249@bath.ac.uk

Researchers at the University of Cardiff are interested in hearing from people who have received support for eating disorder recovery

"The aim of this project is to explore aftercare interventions for individuals who have had support for an eating disorder and consider themselves on the route to recovery. We want to know whether aftercare interventions are helpful for individuals who have had an eating disorder, as some individuals can relapse, and it feels important to be able to offer people something after having treatment to try and prevent this."

Who can take part? 
They are looking for individuals who are:
- 18 years and above
- have experienced an eating disorder
- who have engaged with support for an eating disorder
- Who consider themselves on the road to being physically and behaviourally recovered, along with pursuing continued recovery

More information about the study and how to take part can be found here: https://cardiffunipsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bmvLzPFjojiYwjc

Researchers at the University of York are recruiting participants to take part in an online survey.

The survey is about around how people interpret the sensations they get from their body. This data is being collected to refine a new questionnaire that asks people about their emotional reaction to sensations from the stomach that signal states such as hunger, satiation, and fullness.

Taking part involves 1) completing an online survey that asks questions about the sensations people get from their body and stomach, gastric interoceptive evaluation, and their eating disorder symptoms, and 2) completing the gastric interoceptive evaluation questionnaire (only) again a week later.

This whole process is expected to take up to 20 minutes. There are x4 £50 Amazon e-vouchers to be won in a prize draw for completing the interoceptive evaluation questionnaire (only) again a week later. 

To take part, participants must:  
- Be aged 18+
- Identify as having an eating disorder (have a current diagnosis or think you have one. However, no proof of diagnosis is needed. We recognise that symptoms can be experienced without a formal diagnosis.) 
- Be fluent in English 
- Live in the UK
- Not have been admitted involuntarily for eating disorder (in or outpatient) treatment in the last 6 months (this is a protective measure)

The survey and further information about the study can be accessed via this link.

 
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact lucy.stafford@york.ac.uk. 

The STORY study aims to explore the diverse experiences of young people with eating disorders and how they recover from them. How do symptoms progress over time and what characterises earlier and later stages of eating disorders? What factors help or hinder recovery? All this information will allow us to deliver more personalised and effective interventions for young people with eating disorders in the future.

This study is looking for people of all genders aged 16-25, who have an eating disorder or think they may have one. They also invite young people who have no history of an eating disorder or other major mental health disorders to take part in a control group.

Participants will take part for one year, during which you will complete online surveys and simple tasks on your computer or your smartphone at regular intervals. You will also download two apps onto your smartphone for some active and passive measures. If you feel comfortable, you can wear a smart ring on your finger to measure your heart rate and sleep for the year.

If you live in London or Edinburgh, you can also attend two optional assessment visits at King’s College London or the University of Edinburgh, for example, to complete some psychological tasks or undergo a brain scan.

You will be paid up to £175 for taking part and may receive a smartphone from us, as well as a picture of your brain!

Find out more here