Eating disorders

The causes of eating disorders (EDs) are complex and their development influenced by environmental, psychological and biological factors. While known risk factors include socio-cultural influences (e.g. media exposure, idealisation of thinness) and personality factors, a range of other factors are either unknown or can currently only be considered as correlates. There is also an increasingly broad acceptance of EDs as being brain-based disorders sharing neurobiological overlaps with anxiety disorders and addictions.

Dy Sylvane Desrivieres from King’s College London has been awarded a research grant to investigate how behaviours of dysfunctional eating develop. She will use a database which includes a cohort of adolescents from the IMAGEN study, where 2,000 participants have been recruited from four European countries, including the UK, Ireland, Germany and France, and followed-up at ages 14, 16, 19 and 23.

Identifying true risk factors for EDs and understanding how they contribute to the development of the specific aspects of the disorders, including behaviours related to reward and punishment, cognitive control and emotional processes, will be crucial for improving prevention and treatment of EDs.