Food insecurity, defined as lacking regular access to nutritious food due to financial hardship, is associated with a range of adverse developmental outcomes for children and adolescents. Emerging evidence suggests food insecurity in adults may be associated with disordered eating behaviours, including binge eating and unhealthy weight control strategies. However, the nature of this relationship in adolescents remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether an association exists between food insecurity and eating disorder symptomatology in a large and diverse sample of adolescents living in England.

Cross-sectional data were collected from 34,730 young people in school years 7 to 13 (aged 11 to 18) in classrooms across England, as part of the OxWell 2023 Student Survey. Eating Disorder symptomatology was measured, on a scale of 0 to 6, with five self-report screening questions from the Eating Disorder Section of the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA) and one additional question on meal skipping due to shape/weight concerns. Food insecurity was measured, on a scale of 0 to 6, with three questions adapted from the Wales Young People's Survey on Child & Family Poverty 2019. A complete case analysis was conducted using Stata, v18. Regression analyses were performed to test for associations between food insecurity and eating disorder symptomatology, stratified by gender and adjusting for age and ethnicity.

12,571 (36.2%) participants were excluded due to missing data in key study variables. Our final sample comprised 22,159 adolescents with a mean age of 13.8 years (50.8% female, 54.4% white ethnicity). 63.6% of participants reported experiencing at least one eating disorder symptom and 45.7% scored ≥2 on the DAWBA screening items, a more stringent cut-off for possible eating disorder. Food insecurity was found to be a significant predictor of eating disorder symptomatology in participants of all genders (female: β 0.54, 95% CI 0.48–0.60, p < 0.001, male: β 0.40, 95% CI 0.36–0.44, p < 0.001, other: β 0.52, 95% CI 0.43–0.61, p < 0.001). The association was particularly marked amongst those reporting purging behaviours (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.55–1.69, p < 0.001).

In keeping with previous research, our findings indicate that adolescents experiencing food insecurity exhibit increased rates of eating disorder symptomatology. Further research is needed to explore potential mechanisms behind this association, as well as to develop effective intervention strategies. Our study adds to a body of evidence identifying a high-risk and disenfranchised group of young people who may benefit from targeted support.

Eating disorders (ED) have significant physical and psychosocial impacts, and the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric illness. About a third of patients with Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa do not recover and develop persistent ED. Development of novel treatments is a priority to prevent adverse effects on young people's physical, relational and educational development. Virtual reality (VR) has shown promising efficacy as an innovative mental health treatment, and has potential therapeutic value within ED. People with lived experience (PWLE) and clinicians have demonstrated enthusiasm for a VR café intervention to practice social and food-related challenges. A VR café would enable gradual exposure to challenges in a protected environment, aiming to support people with ED to return to real-life cafés and social eating. This study aims to explore the opinions of key stakeholders to help inform the development of a VR café scenario as an adjunctive treatment for ED.

We conducted semi-structured focus groups and 1:1 interviews with PWLE aged 14–25 years (n = 15), parents/carers (n = 4), and clinicians (n = 6). Participants were recruited via social media, advertisement via ED charities, posters in public places, and snowballing. Following completion of an online screening survey, eligible individuals were invited to participate using purposive sampling to ensure diversity of ages, ethnicities, genders, ED diagnoses, and health professional roles. Data were analysed thematically.

Preliminary analysis indicates that PWLE, parents/carers and clinicians expressed mostly positive opinions regarding a VR café adjunctive treatment. Expressed concerns related to themes of intervention efficacy, translation of learnt skills to real life, and use of VR technology. Most participants agreed a VR café intervention should be a repeated experience (many suggested graded exposure), realistic, and maximally individualised. All stakeholder groups identified a similar range of challenges to experience within a VR café, with themes including choosing food, other people, eating socially or alone, and the café environment. Differences in specific aspects of the scenario that might make challenges harder or easier reflected the unique experiences of individual participants.

These findings build upon previous research demonstrating support from PWLE, parents/carers, and clinicians for the development of a VR café adjunctive treatment for ED. Themes identified are largely consistent across stakeholder groups and relate to the design of a VR café scenario and its implementation as a treatment. This analysis enables the perspectives of key stakeholders to be incorporated into the design of a novel VR café intervention to optimise efficacy and acceptability.

Aim 1: Identify the proportion of 11–19-year-olds in the Mental Health of Children and Young People 2017 survey screening positive for a possible eating problem, using the Development and Wellbeing Assessment.

Aim 2: Describe patterns of service contact in individuals screening positive for possible eating problems.

We used data from the Mental Health of Children and Young People 2017 survey, a stratified probability sample of children and their parents and teachers across England. The screening questions from the Eating Disorders module of the Development and Wellbeing Assessment (DAWBA) was completed by all children aged 11–19, all parents of children ages 11–16 and parents of children ages 17–19 where consent was given. Individuals were classified as screening positive for possible eating problems if they had one or more self-reported symptoms, or two or more parent-reported symptoms. We describe the proportion of individuals screening positive by age, sex, co-morbidities, and household income.

Individuals also answered questions about help seeking from different sources (in relation to any mental health concern). We classify these sources of support as informal, professional and specialist.

We analysed all data using Stata 17.

A total of 36.4% (95% CI 34.8, 38.1) of children and young people aged 11–17 in England screened positive for a possible eating problem, including 47.6% of females (95% CI 45.3, 50.0) and 25.6% of males (95% CI 23.7, 27.8). 60.7% (95% CI 57.9, 63.4) of individuals who screened positive reported that they received no help over the previous year; 13.1% (95% CI 11.2, 15.4) had received informal help only; 17.0% (95% CI 15.0, 19.3) had professional but not specialist help; and 9.13% (95% CI 7.67, 10.9) had received specialist help. High proportions of individuals who received support from formal services during the year prior to the survey screened positive for possible eating problems: 42.7% (95% CI 38.6, 47.0) for teachers, 46.9% (95% CI 40.9, 53.0) for GPs, 32.2% (95% CI 23.1, 42.9) for Paediatrics and Child Health and 50.0% (95% CI 43.1, 56.8) for Mental Health Services.

Despite high numbers of young people screening positive for a possible eating problem, rates of help seeking in this group were low. Conversely, high proportions of those seeking professional help have a possible eating problem.

Clinicians should be aware of the high proportions of individuals with possible eating problems accessing their services. Future research should aim to increase help seeking in individuals with possible eating problems.

We aimed to interview people who had received inpatient treatment for anorexia nervosa, to explore their perspectives on the impact their interactions with other patients during their admission had on their recovery, including short term and longer term effects.

We recruited people who had experienced inpatient admission for treatment of anorexia nervosa, and who had been recovered from anorexia nervosa for at least 12 months. We conducted semi-structured, one-to-one interviews, with nine individuals specifically exploring the helpful and unhelpful aspects of peer relationships during inpatient treatment for anorexia nervosa. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.

We interviewed nine individuals. Five themes were indentified: comparison and justification, learnt unhelpful behaviours, dealing with distress, new-found compassion, and role-modelling. All participants expressed conflicting feelings about their relationships with peers, but generally described more resilience in resisting negative effects as they got closer to recovery. Positive effects, such a new-found compassion, appeared to hold significance long term in participants’ ‘recovered’ lives.

The detailed exploration of themes in this study provides a deeper understanding of the complex nature of peer relationships amongst people experiencing inpatient treatment for anorexia nervosa. This could aid clinical decision making when choosing appropriate treatment settings for individual patients as well as informing clinical practice in inpatient units.

Eating disorders are stigmatised. Little is known about whether stigma has decreased over time and which groups hold more stigmatising beliefs.

To explore whether stigma towards eating disorders has changed between 1998 and 2008 and whether it varies by sociodemographic characteristics.

We used the Office for National Statistics Omnibus surveys 1998 and 2008. As outcomes, we selected four questions eliciting participants’ views on issues of blame and ability to recover, and compared their mean scores across eating disorders, depression and alcohol dependence in both years. We used multivariable linear regressions to investigate associations between sociodemographic characteristics and each stigma domain.

In total, 2720 participants had data on all variables of interest. Compared with 1998, in 2008 stigmatising views towards eating disorders improved. In both years, participants believed it was easier to recover from eating disorders than depression or alcohol dependence. Respondents believed people with eating disorders were more to blame for their condition than those with depression, but less than those with alcohol dependence. Men, those with less formal education, and those from ethnic minority backgrounds were more likely to place greater blame on individuals for their mental illness. Men were more likely than women to think it was possible to recover from an eating disorder.

Stigmatising attitudes towards people with eating disorders have improved over time, but are still greater than those observed for other mental illnesses. Improving eating disorder mental health literacy could help to reduce these negative views and lead to improved quality of life, greater help-seeking and better prognosis.

Gloucestershire Health Care Trust operates an “all age” out of hours on-call rota, staffed by Registrars and Consultants who cross-cover all psychiatric sub-specialities. Our aim was to understand the challenges faced by psychiatrists of different professional backgrounds when assessing under 18 year olds in a health-based Place of Safety (POS).

We circulated a survey to all psychiatrists on the on-call rota, to gather quantitative and qualitative information on the challenges posed by assessments of under-18s in a POS and assess whether an under-18 specific policy was needed.

Out of the 50 psychiatrists invited, 27 completed this survey (during February 2021). 33.3% of respondents reported that they had completed a POS assessment of an under 18-year-old when a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist/Registrar was not available to join. 33.3% of respondents had been asked to complete such an assessment as the sole psychiatrist joining the AMHP, with 24% of those respondents reporting feeling uncomfortable doing these assessments without a second doctor present, and an additional 24% feeling comfortable only sometimes. 48.1% of the doctors surveyed did not invite parents or carers to take part in the assessment, despite this being considered best practice, citing reasons such as: being unaware that this was a possibility, assessments conducted at unsociable hours, safeguarding concerns involving the parents, and social distancing in the context of COVID-19. 41% of respondents had assessed vulnerable young people (children looked after or with a diagnosis of an autism spectrum condition) in the POS and reported that these assessments posed significant challenges to safe discharge planning and identifying appropriate placements. 81.5% felt that a tailored policy for young people was needed. Qualitative findings suggest psychiatrists think such a policy should include clear procedures (flowcharts), potential outcome scenarios/options for safe discharge, referral criteria for CAMHS, contact details for key staff members, a handover protocol. Respondents felt a shared policy with all stakeholders (AMHP service, Mental Health Services, police) was required.

Our survey highlights the challenges for non-CAMHS specialists assessing under 18s in a health-based POS and the need for an under-18 policy to support safe practice. Major themes will be further explored in a focus group to guide policy development.

Self-harm and eating disorders are often comorbid in clinical samples but their co-occurrence in the general population is unclear. Given that only a small proportion of individuals who self-harm or have disordered eating present to clinical services, and that both self-harm and eating disorders are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, we aimed to study these behaviours at a population level.

We assessed the co-occurrence of self-harm and disordered eating behaviours in 3384 females and 2326 males from a UK population-based cohort: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Participants reported on their self-harm and disordered eating behaviours (fasting, purging, binge-eating and excessive exercise) in the last year via questionnaire at 16 and 24 years. At each age we assessed how many individuals who self-harm also reported disordered eating, and how many individuals with disordered eating also reported self-harm.

We found high comorbidity of self-harm and disordered eating. Almost two-thirds of 16-year-old females, and two-in-five 24-year-old males who self-harmed also reported some form of disordered eating. Young people with disordered eating reported higher levels of self-harm at both ages compared to those without disordered eating.

As self-harm and disordered eating commonly co-occur in young people in the general population, it is important to screen for both sets of difficulties to provide appropriate treatment.

The COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation measures are likely to have a marked effect on mental health. It is important to use longitudinal data to improve inferences.

To quantify the prevalence of depression, anxiety and mental well-being before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, to identify groups at risk of depression and/or anxiety during the pandemic.

Data were from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) index generation (n = 2850, mean age 28 years) and parent generation (n = 3720, mean age 59 years), and Generation Scotland (n = 4233, mean age 59 years). Depression was measured with the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire in ALSPAC and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 in Generation Scotland. Anxiety and mental well-being were measured with the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment-7 and the Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale.

Depression during the pandemic was similar to pre-pandemic levels in the ALSPAC index generation, but those experiencing anxiety had almost doubled, at 24% (95% CI 23–26%) compared with a pre-pandemic level of 13% (95% CI 12–14%). In both studies, anxiety and depression during the pandemic was greater in younger members, women, those with pre-existing mental/physical health conditions and individuals in socioeconomic adversity, even when controlling for pre-pandemic anxiety and depression.

These results provide evidence for increased anxiety in young people that is coincident with the pandemic. Specific groups are at elevated risk of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is important for planning current mental health provisions and for long-term impact beyond this pandemic.