Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

There is increasing evidence that early-life stressors (either before or after birth) are an important risk factor for the development of eating disorders later in life. There is also evidence that children and adolescents with weight-related concerns, such as being overweight, have a greater risk for developing eating disorders, and lower chances of recovery. Children who are victim of bullying based on their physical appearance are at particular risk for developing an eating disorder. However, little is known about the specific mechanisms through which these risk factors may increase vulnerability to disordered eating. Also, since most of the research has been done in individuals with advanced cases of eating disorders in clinical settings, it is unknown whether these factors predict an even greater amount of eating disorder symptoms in the general population. In our first study, we will investigate how early stressors predict risk for eating disorders in adolescence. We will also look at how childhood weight and eating behaviors (such as over-eating, picky eating and irregular eating) influence this association. In our second study, we will specifically look at how bullying based on physical appearance affects the brains of victims who have lived such experiences. We will perform brain scans in young adolescent girls with and without a history of bullying. While in the scanner, they will look at stimuli (words) relevant for eating disorders. We will then compare both group's brain reactivity to this information in specific brain regions that are involved in emotional regulation. We will also assess the activity of specific genes in both groups. With these studies, we hope to better understand specific behavioral and biological pathways that might explain risk for disordered eating in the general population. This will help the development of prevention and intervention strategies aimed at reducing the impact of weight concerns on risk for eating disorders.