The Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI) United Kingdom (preprint)

Objective The Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative United Kingdom (EDGI UK), part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Mental Health BioResource, aims to deepen our understanding of the environmental and genetic aetiology of eating disorders. EDGI UK launched in February 2020 and is partnered with the UK eating disorders charity, Beat. There are multiple EDGI branches worldwide. Method EDGI UK recruits via media and clinical services. Anyone living in England, at least 16 years old, with a lifetime probable or clinical eating disorder is eligible to sign up online: edgiuk.org . Participants complete online questionnaires, donate a saliva sample for genetic analysis, and consent to medical record linkage and recontact for future studies. Results As of September 2022, EDGI UK has recruited 8,397 survey participants: 98% female, 93% white, 97.7% cisgender, 67% heterosexual, and 52% have a university degree. Half (51.7%) of participants have returned their saliva kit. The most common diagnoses are anorexia nervosa (42.7%), atypical anorexia nervosa (31.4%), bulimia nervosa (33.2%), binge-eating disorder (14.6%), and purging disorder (33.5%). Conclusion EDGI UK is the largest UK eating disorders study but needs to increase its diversity, and efforts are underway to do so. It also offers a unique opportunity to accelerate eating disorder research, and collaboration between researchers and participants with lived experience, with unparalleled sample size.

Risk and protective factors for new onset binge eating, low weight, and self-harm symptoms in over 25,000 individuals in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic (preprint)

Objective: The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with poor mental health, including increases in eating disorder and self-harm symptoms. We investigated risk and protective factors for new onset of these symptoms during the pandemic. Method: Data were from the COVID-19 Psychiatry and Neurological Genetics study and the Repeated Assessment of Mental health in Pandemics Study (n = 45,058). Exposures were socio-demographic characteristics, lifetime psychiatric disorder, and COVID-related variables, including SARS-CoV-2 infection/illness with COVID-19. We identified four sub-samples of participants without pre-pandemic experience of our outcomes: binge eating (n = 18,172), low weight (n = 19,148), suicidal and/or self-harm ideation (n = 12,650), and self-harm (n = 20,266). Participants reported on our outcomes at frequent intervals (fortnightly to monthly). We fitted four logistic regression models to identify factors associated with new onset of our outcomes. Results: Within each subsample, new onset was reported by: 16.9% for binge eating, 8.9% for low weight, 26.6% for suicidal and/or self-harm ideation, and 3.3.% for self-harm. Shared risk factors included having a lifetime psychiatric disorder, not being in paid employment, and higher pandemic worry scores. Conversely, infection with SARS-CoV-2/illness with COVID-19 was linked to lower odds of all outcomes. Other factors were associated with one outcome, such as pandemic-related loneliness with suicidal and/or self-harm ideation. Discussion: Overall, we detected shared risk factors that may drive the comorbidity between eating disorders and self-harm. Subgroups of individuals with these risk factors may require more frequent monitoring during future pandemics.