Commentary on: “For Me, Anorexia is Just a Symptom and the Cause is the Autism”: Investigating Restrictive Eating Disorders in Autistic Women

SEDAF's collaborator and adviser Cathy has written a commentary summarising our latest publication and highlighting the importance and implications of the project:

A possible link between Autism and restrictive eating disorders has been recognised for over 30 years. Recently, research investigating this link has increased and suggests that 20-35% of women with a diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa (AN) are also autistic. Furthermore, it is possible that in autistic women with an AN diagnosis, the behaviours that comprise this eating disorder (ED) are in part driven by autistic traits. The present study explored the thinking and emotions of autistic women with a diagnosis of AN through in-depth interviews. In addition, parents of such women and their healthcare providers were interviewed to gain a more thorough understanding of how autistic women experience restrictive EDs.

Collectively, these interviews identified specific themes within this group of autistic women which related to: (i) sensory sensitivities, (ii) social interaction and relationships, (iii) identity, (iv) difficulties with emotions, (v) particular thinking styles, and (vi) a need for control and predictability. Concerns about weight and body shape were not the main drivers of food restriction in the group as whole. These findings enabled the researchers to develop a novel Autism Specific Model of Restrictive Eating which may be used to help individuals caring for autistic women with restrictive EDs to better support these women to consume a balanced diet, to reverse malnutrition and to manage autism-related stress.  

Cathy

You can access the full paper here. We have also written a lay summary with some more details on the findings.