The STORY study
Name of researcher/s: Carina Kuehne, Callum Bryson, Sarah Moody, Dr Başak İnce Çağlar
Affiliation/s: King’s College London, University of Edinburgh
Email address: story@kcl.ac.uk
Who can take part?
We are looking for young people aged 16 to 25 who have an eating disorder. We are also recruiting those aged 16 to 25 with no eating disorder or other major mental health diagnoses to take part as healthy controls.
You must be currently living in the UK, be able to give informed consent and willing to use study app(s) on either your own smartphone or one provided for the duration of data collection (12 months).
At the moment, we are also particularly interested in hearing from young people currently in treatment for their eating disorder, as well as people from minoritised ethnic backgrounds, people with bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder, and men and boys.
What is the purpose of the research?
STORY explores the diverse experiences of young people with eating disorders and how they recover from them. How do symptoms progress over time, what characterises earlier and later stages of eating disorders, and what can help or hinder recovery? This information will allow us to develop more personalised and effective treatments in the future.
What does the study involve?
You would take part for one year, during which you complete online surveys and tasks at different times. You would also download two smartphone apps for some active and passive measures, and you can choose to wear an ‘Ōura’ smart ring for the year to help us collect data on your heart rate and sleep. If you live nearby, you can also attend two assessment visits at King’s College London or the University of Edinburgh, that involve computer tasks and brain scans. You can earn up to £175 by the end of your participation.
How can someone take part?
To learn more about the STORY study, you can visit our website: Click here to visit the STORY website or watch our recruitment video! If you are interested, you can sign up here. If you’d like to get in touch with email us at story@kcl.ac.uk.