SEED: a phone app to treat eating disorder symptoms in gay and bisexual cis-men

About this study

Researchers at the University of Melbourne are looking for gay and bisexual cis-men with body image and/or eating difficulties to trial the SEED app. SEED is 10-week app-based prevention and early intervention program targeting eating disorder symptoms in adults. Despite increasing awareness of the risk and protective factors for eating disorders and efficacious approaches to treat symptoms, a significant treatment gap remains. It is estimated that only 25% of individuals with an eating disorder receive treatment. This gap is exacerbated for certain high-risk under-serviced groups (e.g., queer men men) with needs that are not satisfied by current front-line treatment options. Our eHealth intervention, SEED, specifically focuses on eating disorders among queer men and therefore is both needed and timely.

Research TeamDr Scott Griffiths and team at University of Melbourne and Deakin University
InstitutionUniversity of Melbourne
Funding SourceThe project is funded by an Medical Research Future Fund Grant awarded to the research team.
Project Start Date1 February 2024
Project End Date31 October 2024
ParticipantsYou may be eligible to participate if you are 18 years or older, identify as a gay or bisexual cis-man, and are experiencing eating and/or body image concerns. Please note that, at this time, people with a current diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa, Atypical Anorexia Nervosa, and Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder are not eligible to participate in this research.
What is Involved1. To find out if the app is likely to be a suitable support for your concerns, we will ask you a few questions about yourself and your body image and eating attitudes and behaviours in the the following pages. This will take <10 minutes.
2. Depending on your answers to these questions, you may be invited to participate in an interview to follow up in some more detail about your experiences with the topics you have been asked about in this survey (e.g., your body image and eating attitudes and behaviours). The purpose of this interview is to further explore whether the app would be a good fit for you.
3. If you are eligible to participate in this research and to test the SEED app, we will check in with you a few times over the next 12 months to see how you are faring after having used the app. This is a really important part of the project to help us to understand how the app works and to be sure it can help other people in the future.
4. Please note that the following are exclusion criteria for this trial of the SEED app, as the app does not currently provide tailored support for these concerns: current diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa, Atypical Anorexia Nervosa, and/or Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder; and current suicidal intent.
Contact Details

Dr Scott Griffiths, Telephone: +61 3 9035 3047, scott.griffiths@unimelb.edu.au

See also

A Qualitative Exploration of Facilitators and Barriers in Adult Eating Disorder Care

This two-part study focuses on understanding the treatment experiences of adults aged 18 and over with either a longstanding and/or Severe and Enduring Eating Disorders (SEEDs) in Australia (i.e., have experienced an eating disorder for 7 or more years).

Read more

Perspectives of artificial intelligence applications in the management of disordered eating

This research project broadly aims to investigate healthcare provider perspectives on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the management and care of disordered eating.

Read more

Understanding the needs of autistic children and adolescents with eating disorders and their parents/carers.

Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney and Western Sydney University are aiming to better understand the experiences of autistic people that have lived experience of an eating disorder, and the experiences of parents and carers of autistic young people experiencing eating disorders.

Read more

Nutrition Messaging in Schools and their Contribution to Eating Disorders

This project aims to investigate the relationship between nutrition messaging in Australian schools and eating disorders in young people, and understand whether nutrition messaging is perceived as helpful (i.e., improves eating behaviours) or unhelpful (i.e., worsens eating behaviours and/or contributes to disordered eating).

Read more