Our Research and Current Projects

Our Research

As a research team, we aim to answer questions such as:

  • What do people with anorexia nervosa value about their disorder, and do patients’ perceived benefits and burdens of anorexia predict how well they will fare in treatment?
  • How might eating disorders present differently in autistic and neurotypical people and how might treatment need to be adapted?
  • What are individuals’ experiences of externalising the eating disorder in treatment and how does this approach help or hinder recovery?
  • What is the relationship between food insecurity and eating disorders?
  • What is the impact of fasting on mood, cognition, and disordered eating?
  • How can imaginal exposure be best used as treatment for individuals on waiting lists for eating disorder services?

Our Methods

Our research includes a range of methodological approaches from qualitative research to statistical modelling, and we sample individuals with and without eating disorders to answer our research questions.

Current Projects

 

  1. The anorexic voice: A dialogical enquiry and thematic analysis
  2. The impact of continuous calorie restriction and fasting on cognition in adults without eating disorders
  3. How does Externalisation of Anorexia Nervosa help, or hinder recovery?
  4. Food insecurity, eating disorders and the impact of Covid 19 in adolescents
  5. Parenting styles and their impact on family based therapy for anorexia nervosa
  6. Further validation of the EDE-QS, a short version of the EDE-Q
  7. Study of Eating Disorders in Autistic Females (SEDAF)

Recent Publications:

Allen, K., Mountford, V.A., Flynn, M., Elwyn, R., Fursland, A., Obeid, N., Partida, G., Richards, K., Schmidt, U., Serpell, L., Silver, S., Wade, T. (2022). A framework for early intervention for eating disorders. European Eating Disorders Review. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2959 

Adamson, J., Brede, J., Babb, C., Serpell, L., Jones, C,R.G., Fox, J.R.E., Mandy, W. (2022). Towards identifying a method of screening for autism amongst women with restrictive eating disorders. European Eating Disorders Review. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2918 

Cook, F., Langdon-Daly, J. & Serpell. Compliance of participants undergoing a ‘5-2’ intermittent fasting diet and impact on body weight. (2022). Clinical Nutrition ESPEN. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2022.08.012

Babb, C., Brede, J., Jones, C.R.G., Serpell, L., Mandy, W., Fox, J.R.E. (2022). A comparison of the eating disorder service experiences of autistic and non-autistic women in the UK. European Eating Disorders Review. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2930 

Brede, J., Cage, E., Trott, J., Palmer, L., Smith, A., Serpell, L., Mandy, W. & Russel, A. (2022). “We have to try to find a way, Clinical Bridge” - Autistic adults’ experience of accessing and receiving support for mental health difficulties: A systematic review and thematic meta-synthesis. Clinical Psychology Review, 93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2022.102131

Ling, N. C. Y., Serpell, L., Burnett-Stuart, S., & Pugh, M. (2022). Interviewing anorexia: How do individuals given a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa experience Voice Dialogue with their eating disorder voice? A qualitative analysis. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 29(2), 600–610. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2652

Jewell, T., Herle, M., Serpell, L., Eivors, A., Simic, M., Fonagy, P., Eisler, I. (2021). Attachment and mentalization as predictors of outcome in family therapy for adolescent anorexia nervosa. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01930-3

Austin, A., Flynn, M., Richards, K. L., Sharpe, H., Allen, K. L., Mountford, V. A., Glennon, D., Grant, N., Brown, A., Mahoney, K., Serpell, L., Brady, G., Nunes, N., Connan, F., Franklin-Smith, M., Schelhase, M., Jones, W. R., Breen, G., & Schmidt, U. (2021). Early weight gain trajectories in first episode anorexia: Predictors of outcome for emerging adults in outpatient treatment. Journal of Eating Disorders, 9(1), 112. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-021-00448-y