ScreenED
Project Details
Project Overview
The prevalence of eating disorders (EDs) in children appears to be increasing. EDs such as anorexia, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder are associated with a wide range of chronic and devastating impacts on child development and are very distressing for family and community. A range of initiatives are implementing universal parent- and child-report mental health screening to improve early intervention for children with mental illness. However, EDs are currently excluded from these because no validated, reliable screening instrument exists for use with children. There is therefore an urgent need to develop an appropriate diagnostic tool to ensure children with EDs are being recognised and offered early and appropriate intervention.
ScreenED aims to develop, test, and validate, through collaboration with research end-users and especially those with lived experience, an eating disorder screening tool, ScreenED, for use with children aged 5-12 and their parents.
We are aiming to develop a screening tool that:
- Uses clear, non-stigmatising, age-appropriate, gender-neutral, culturally safe language
- Assesses risk for a wide range of EDs
- Taps early symptoms reported in research and by those with lived-experience or their parents
- Is feasible for use alongside existing paediatric screening measures (e.g., CHQ, SDQ)
- Has easy scoring methods, clear cut points, and is freely available
- Fosters future innovation in research and health services via wide dissemination into practice
The team
The ScreenED team is a coalition of researchers and clinicians based at the University of Melbourne, Flinders University, University of Technology Sydney, and Greater Western Sydney University. The research will take place across four states, with the team from Victoria leading the project.
The process
To develop the ScreenED tool, we will complete three phases:
1) drafting potential screening items for both a parent- and a child-report versions of the ScreenED tool, using evidence from systematic reviews and co-design workshops. We will begin with 50 draft items and refine these into 20 potential items for piloting. - Phase 1 is Complete
2) piloting potential items to examine which items best predict whether a child has an eating disorder diagnosis or not. 20 items will be refined to 10 items with language crafted to suit parents, children and health professionals who might use the tool. - Phase 2 is Complete
3) validating and finalising the tool with a robust sample of parent/child dyads and comparison with gold standard clinical interview. - Phase 3 is currently open for recruitment
Expert Advisory Group
An Expert Advisory Group (EAG) of diverse experts has been established to provide a formal mechanism for lived experience experts, partner organisations and other research end-users to guide the project. The EAG is guided by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care Standards for Partnering with Consumers and meets regularly to help to steer the research team in developing a screening tool that is accessible, culturally safe, acceptable, and effective for end-users.
Current opportunities
Participate Now: ScreenED
We are inviting one parent and one primary-school-aged child (5-12 years) from families across Australia to take part in this study together.
We welcome all families to participate whether there are concerns about your child's eating or not. It's important for our research to involve all types of families in our project, not just those with eating problems.
The study involves one parent and one child completing two online surveys. There is also the option for your child to participate in a clinical interview.
To find out more or register your interest, click here: https://tinyurl.com/enrol-screened-study
ScreenED in the news
August 2023: ScreenED was highlighted by the federal Department of Health and Aged Care in their MRFF Funding Announcement:
Support resources
If you are concerned about your child’s eating, we recommend seeking further information or support from a specialist organisation or an appropriately qualified health professional:
National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC):
- Information: Families and Supports
- Finding Services: Service locator
Connect.ED
- Finding Services: Connect·ed
The Butterfly Foundation
- Finding services: Find a Professional - Butterfly Foundation
- Information and services: National Helpline 7 days a week, 8am-midnight ((AEST/AEDT) 1800 33 4673. You can also chat online or email
If you would like more information about how to talk with your child about body image or eating habits, you can find further resources on the following websites:
If you would like more information about general child mental health or parenting, you can find resources on the following websites:
Contact us
For more information about the project, or to learn how to get involved, please contact us.
Ph: 03 8344 8863
Collaborators
Dr Laura Hart University of Melbourne
Prof Tracey Wade Flinders University
Prof Phillipa Hay Western Sydney University
A/Prof Deborah Mitchison Crawford University of Technology Sydney
A/Prof Amy Morgan University of Melbourne
A/Prof Sloane Madden Ramsay Healthcare, Redleaf Practice
Funding
This project is funded by the Medical Research Future Fund (2026538)
Research Group
Equity and Mental HealthKey Contact
For further information about this research, please contact the research group leader.
Department / Centre
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