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A comparison of the eating disorder service experiences of autistic and non-autistic women in the UK

Babb, Charli; Brede, Janina; Jones, Catherine RG; Serpell, Lucy; Mandy, William; Fox, John; (2022) A comparison of the eating disorder service experiences of autistic and non-autistic women in the UK. European Eating Disorders Review 10.1002/erv.2930. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Qualitative studies report that autistic women have poor experiences when being treated for an eating disorder (ED) and express that ED services are not appropriately tailored to meet their needs. It is unclear whether their experience differs to other women accessing ED services. The aim of the current study was to compare autistic and non-autistic women's ED illness history and experiences in ED services. METHOD: An online survey about ED illness history and their experience with ED treatment was completed by 46 autistic women with a restrictive ED and 110 non-autistic women with a restrictive ED. RESULTS: Despite some similarities, there were three key differences in the experiences reported by autistic and non-autistic women. First, autistic women reported a longer duration of ED and being diagnosed with an ED at a younger age than non-autistic women. Second, autistic women reported accessing a broader range of healthcare settings and ED treatments than non-autistic women when being treated for an ED. Finally, autistic women rated their experiences of inpatient care, dietetic input, and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as significantly less beneficial than non-autistic women when being treated for an ED. CONCLUSION: These findings increase understanding of autistic women's ED experience and can help to shape ED services and treatments to better accommodate the needs of their autistic clients.

Type: Article
Title: A comparison of the eating disorder service experiences of autistic and non-autistic women in the UK
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1002/erv.2930
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2930
Language: English
Additional information: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Keywords: Social Sciences, Psychology, Clinical, Psychology, anorexia nervosa, ARFID, autism, eating disorders, mental health services, QUESTIONNAIRE EDE-Q, ANOREXIA-NERVOSA, SPECTRUM DISORDER, FOOD SELECTIVITY, YOUNG-ADULTS, TRAITS, ADOLESCENTS, BEHAVIORS, INTERVIEW, SYMPTOMS
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10152027
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