Study of young LGBTQ+ people who have developed an Eating Disorder v1

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  A study of the experiences of lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, questioning (LGBTQ+) young people who have developed an eating disorder

• IRAS ID

  327391

• Contact name

  Elaine Jones

• Contact email

  elaine.jones39@nhs.net

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Chester

• Duration of Study in the UK

  4 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  I have been working as an Eating Disorders Therapist in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)for the last five years. I currently work in the Wirral Eating Disorders team. Over the last three years referrals to the team have increased threefold and currently over half of the teams current clients describe themselves as LGBTQ+. In the literature used in training and in the texts recommended for reference and study, I have not heard/seen any mention of this specific group of young people; nor have I seen any consideration given to whether their experiences may differ from that of their heterosexual peers.
  The purpose of this project is to explore what pressures might exist that lead LGBTQ+ young people to developing eating disorders, to see if there is a link between identifying as LGBTQ+ and developing an eating disorder, to give a voice to their experiences, to explore how these young people feel about how professionals in the mental health system respond to issues of gender and sexuality, to encourage mental health professionals to reflect on how their views on gender and sexuality may influence this client group and to produce results which can help inform clinical practice.
  The research will be a PhD project supervised by the University of Chester

• REC name

  North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  23/NW/0343

• Date of REC Opinion

  14 Feb 2024

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion