The ESTRA Study aims for earlier detection and stratification of eating disorders and comorbid mental illness.

Publications

*NEW ESTRA STUDY PAPER*

Personality profiles associated with eating disorders (Journal of Affective Disorders)

The ESTRA study team examined how personality traits are associated with the co-development and co-occurrence of eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and suicidal risk. We identified personality profiles that could indicate both the future risk and current diagnoses of these mental health conditions. This study has bee published in the Journal of Affective Disorders in June 2024. 

The study found that a combination of neuroticism and impulsivity can serve as early risk factors for future anxiety and dieting behaviours. Neuroticism is also a diagnostic marker for both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, while impulsivity is specifically linked to bulimia nervosa. Additionally, hopelessness emerged as a diagnostic marker associated with comorbid depression, anxiety and suicidal risk, and extraversion as a potential protective factor associated with lower depressive risk in bulimia nervosa, suggest that interventions targeting hopelessness and introversion may improve clinical outcomes. Therefore, our findings may inform the design of more personalised prevention and intervention strategies.

A shared neural basis underlying psychiatric comorbidity (Nature Medicine)

Recent studies have identified a common mechanism that underlies most mental health disorders’ symptoms. Participants’ data from the ESTRA, STRATIFY and IMAGEN studies were used in this analysis. Delayed development of the brain’s frontal regions was identified to be the common cause of these mental health disorders. Frontal regions such as the Prefrontal Cortex are responsible for decision-making and planning processes. In turn, we found that this common factor, which is partially genetically determined, can be identified from pre-adolescents to young adulthood. The identification of this common factor acts as a 'target' used to develop early intervention strategies and future therapies.

Genetic and Phenotypic Associations in Eating Disorders (JAMA)

Researchers from the ESTRA Study Team, Dr Lauren Robinson and Dr Zuo Zhang, have published findings from an investigation into the factors that lead to the onset of disordered eating behaviours (DEBs), namely dieting, binge eating and purging. They also investigated whether genes linked to ADHD, BMI and personality measures were involved in the development of these DEBs. The sample was comprised of 1623 participants from the IMAGEN Project which recruited participants at baseline (age 14) and followed up on two-time points at age 16 and 19. Interestingly, this analysis found that vulnerability factors associated with DEBs in adolescence were also correlated with genetic traits linked to obesity, ADHD and specific personality traits. These findings can contribute to the identification of those who are most at risk of developing eating disorders.

Neural pathways of Eating Disorders (Biological Psychiatry)

Researchers from the ESTRA Study, Dr Zuo Zhang and Dr Lauren Robinson have investigated the neural overlap between depressive symptoms in adolescence and disordered eating behaviours (DEBs).

This was achieved by comparing the concentrations of specific brain matter between healthy controls and symptomatic participants from the IMAGEN Project.

Our researchers

Glossary

  • Binge-eating (eating a large amount of food with a loss of control)

  • Disordered Eating Behaviours (DEBs)

  • Dieting behaviours (eating fewer meals, skipping meals, and fasting).

  • Purging (self-induced vomiting or taking any kind of pills/medicines with the intention to lose weight)