FOCUSED 

What we did...

​

The quality of adolescent relationships is a well-known risk factor for the development of eating disorders, and influences treatment response and outcome. In the clinical setting, adolescents with eating disorders frequently present with impaired social functioning that is difficult to distinguish from autism spectrum disorder, particularly in acutely unwell young people. There are currently no comprehensive models of how interpersonal difficulties operate to trigger and maintain eating disorders in children and young people, and a lack of knowledge about how people with lived experience of adolescent eating disorders view social functioning both in relation to eating disorders and as a therapeutic target. We interviewed young people and carers to help us extend models of eating disorders in adults to adolescents.

​