Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder and its correlates

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) was a new diagnosis introduced in 2013. According to the diagnostic criteria, ARFID is a distinct eating disorder due to not being associated with concerns relating to weight gain or body dissatisfaction. Past research indicates that ARFID is associated with a variety of different traits and comorbidities, including autism, sensory sensitivity, age, gender, anxiety and depression. However, current research investigating ARFID and any associated traits or comorbidities is sparse or focused predominately on paediatric populations. As a result, the current research aimed to further explore the factors associated with ARFID outside of purely paediatric samples.
The first chapter explored the associations between ARFID and psychological and health-related correlates within existing literature. It sought to highlight the strength and direction of any correlations. After searching the current literature, 26 studies were deemed eligible and included within this study. Meta-analysis of the studies demonstrated significant associations between ARFID and psychological and health-related correlates such as anxiety and disgust. The findings within this review are somewhat consistent with the wider literature. Suggestions are provided for clinicians to consider ARFID within routine practice, especially if patients are presenting with several psychological and/or health-related correlates.
The second chapter is a cross-sectional study examining the associations between ARFID and a variety of different factors. 124 adults made up the final sample. The average age of this sample was 33.28 years, 69% were Female and 85.5% were White. Those assigned female at birth were more likely to be picky eaters compared to those assigned male at birth. Past traumatic experiences with food were associated with increased fears around the aversive consequences of food such as choking. The study found associations between ARFID and all the investigated psychological correlates.