Social Identity and Camouflaging in Autism and Eating Disorders
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Role of Social Identity and Camouflaging in Autism and Eating Disorders
IRAS ID
303117
Contact name
Síofra Bradley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 29 days
Research summary
This research aims to identify risk and protective factors for the association between eating disorders and autism. It is predicted that the more positively a person socially identifies with having autism, the less disordered eating behaviours they will display. Social identification with autism has not been investigated in relation to autism and eating disorders, despite being associated with the severity of other mental health problems in autistic people.
Information will be gathered using online questionnaires, estimated to take between 30-45 minutes to complete. Questionnaires will measure social identification with autism and eating disorders, camouflaging behaviours (attempt to hide autistic characteristics), sensory sensitivities, severity of autism and eating disorder behaviours. Information will also be gathered on age, gender and ethnicity. Participants will be asked to disclose if they have an eating disorder or any other mental illness and what this is. Participants will also be asked if they have a clinical or self diagnosis of autism and how many years they have had this diagnosis for.
All participants will be older than 18 years old and have a clinical or self diagnosis of autism. Participants with and without an eating disorder can take part. People will be recruited from NHS, social media and online advertisements from community support groups. Services within NHS Tayside will inform those who are eligible about how to access the study online.
Potential participants will access information, questionnaires and support service contact details by following a link that will be provided online. Only the researcher and supervisors will have access to the anonymous data which will be securely stored on a university one drive. Findings will be reported as part of the Doctorate of Clinical Psychology thesis. The researcher intends to disseminate the study’s findings to relevant organisations for autistic people and clinicians.REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/WM/0040
Date of REC Opinion
30 Mar 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion