Cutting-Edge Coordinators

Emily presented two posters at ABCT this year. In her personal research, Emily has explored how Clinical impairment is a key criterion in diagnosing eating disorders, which occur across the weight spectrum. It is important that the tools we use to measure impairment function the same across weight categories. She presented on her project examining if the Clinical Impairment Assessment (CIA), a tool used to measure clinical impairment, performed consistently across weight categories. Emily found that the CIA is partly consistent but also seems to measure other constructs, like weight stigma or internalized weight bias (IWB), for people in higher-weight bodies.

The results of this project led Emily to conduct a second study, examining which body-related terms college students in higher-weight bodies prefer and how preferences vary based on IWB levels. Her findings, also presented at ABCT showed that people with low IWB favored "neutral" terms, while those with high IWB identified more with "undesirable" terms, emphasizing the need to look at terminology on a more individual level. Emily hopes this research will guide recommendations for using body-related language that reduces weight stigma and encourages inclusivity.

Anjali’s ABCT poster shared her research exploring how the DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria for eating disorders perform across gender. To get her results, she investigated responses to a common self-report measure, the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale, which uses language from the DSM-5. She found evidence for bias across multiple symptoms, meaning that the criteria likely does not equitably assess eating disorders across gender. ABCT 2024 was Anjali’s first academic conference, and gave her the opportunity to connect with other researchers who focus more broadly on LGBTQ+ mental health.

Experiencing weight discrimination in day-to-day and medical settings increases one’s risk of eating disorder development but lowers treatment engagement. This year, Samiya presented on the connections between weight discrimination, eating disorder impairment, and treatment interest in college students. Results showed that impairment increases with experiences of weight discrimination, but interest in a virtual guided treatment also increased. Virtual formats may be more acceptable due to fewer opportunities for weight discrimination. The KPA conference, equally geared towards clinicians and researchers, allowed CARE to advocate against weight discrimination directly to the community. This project, originally led by CARE graduate student Mari Thomeczek, has been published.