Ruiz Fischer Megan M, Starr Rachel A
Department of Psychology, Antioch University Seattle, Seattle, WA, USA.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
J Eat Disord. 2024 Aug 2;12(1):107. doi: 10.1186/s40337-024-01071-3.
Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is characterized as a pattern of restrictive eating leading to significant medical and/or psychosocial impairment (American Psychiatric Association in Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C., 2013). Most existing research on ARFID utilizes quantitative methodologies to study children and adolescents. As a result, the experiences of adults with ARFID have been underrepresented in research. To fill this gap, the current study examines the lived experiences of adults with a DSM-5 diagnosis of ARFID.
Participants (n = 9) included adult women aged 20-42 (M = 27, SD = 6.2) recruited from social media advertising. Open-ended, semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).
One of three overarching themes identified by IPA will be discussed in this study: "A tradeoff between safety and freedom," which consists of two subthemes: (a) Ensuring safety from food unknowns and (c) Longing for Freedom. This overarching theme explores the influence of ARFID on an individual's sense of safety and freedom.
This study is one of few to qualitatively examine ARFID, and the only to do so using IPA. Findings offer novel insights relevant to researchers and clinicians who treat adults with ARFID and who wish to increase consideration and understanding of patient lived experience in their work.
回避性限制性摄食障碍（ARFID）的特征是一种限制性饮食模式，导致严重的医学和/或心理社会损害（美国精神病学协会，《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》，美国精神病学协会，华盛顿特区，2013年）。大多数现有的关于ARFID的研究采用定量方法来研究儿童和青少年。因此，成年ARFID患者的经历在研究中未得到充分体现。为了填补这一空白，本研究考察了被诊断为DSM-5 ARFID的成年患者的生活经历。
参与者（n = 9）包括从社交媒体广告中招募的20至42岁的成年女性（M = 27，SD = 6.2）。进行了开放式、半结构化访谈。使用解释现象学分析（IPA）对数据进行分析。
本研究将讨论IPA确定的三个总体主题之一：“安全与自由之间的权衡”，它由两个子主题组成：（a）确保免受未知食物的危害和（c）对自由的渴望。这个总体主题探讨了ARFID对个人安全感和自由感的影响。
本研究是少数对ARFID进行定性研究的研究之一，也是唯一使用IPA进行此类研究的。研究结果为治疗成年ARFID患者以及希望在工作中更多考虑和理解患者生活经历的研究人员和临床医生提供了新的见解。
