Eating disorders are complex mental health conditions that affect individuals across all backgrounds and have serious physical and psychological consequences. Research on eating disorders has commonly indicated the important role of stressful experiences in the development and maintenance of eating disorder behavior, in line with the diathesis-stress model. However, common models of eating disorder onset and maintenance have yet to integrate important types of stressful experiences to explain eating pathology. 

One line of research that we are currently pursuing concerns sexual and gender minority individuals. Sexual and gender minority individuals are at heightened risk for developing eating pathology and less likely to receive adequate treatment. 

Another line of research is on the intersection of trauma-related symptoms and eating pathology. Trauma exposure is a non-specific risk factor for many forms of psychopathology, but individuals with comorbid PTSD are less likely to benefit in the long term from eating disorder treatment.