ARFID Genes and Environment (ARFID-GEN): study protocol

Cynthia M. Bulik*, Nadia Micali, Casey M. MacDermod, Baiyu Qi, Melissa A. Munn-Chernoff, Laura M. Thornton, Jennifer White, Lisa Dinkler, Emily M. Pisetsky, Jessica Johnson, Katelin R. Devine, Shelby N. Ortiz, Ava E. Silverman, Natasha Berthold, Alexis Dumain, Jerry Guintivano, Matthew Halvorsen, James J. Crowley

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Background: The Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder – Genes and Environment (ARFID-GEN) study is a study of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to risk for developing ARFID in children and adults. Methods: A total of 3,000 children and adults with ARFID from the United States will be included. Parents/guardians and their children with ARFID (ages 7 to 17) and adults with ARFID (ages 18 +) will complete comprehensive online consent, parent verification of child assent (when applicable), and phenotyping. Enrolled participants with ARFID will submit a saliva sample for genotyping. A genome-wide association study of ARFID will be conducted. Discussion: ARFID-GEN, a large-scale genetic study of ARFID, is designed to rapidly advance the study of the genetics of eating disorders. We will explicate the genetic architecture of ARFID relative to other eating disorders and to other psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and metabolic disorders and traits. Our goal is for ARFID to deliver “actionable” findings that can be transformed into clinically meaningful insights. Trial registration: ARFID-GEN is a registered clinical trial: clinicaltrials.gov NCT05605067.

Original languageEnglish
Article number863
JournalBMC Psychiatry
Volume23
Issue number1
Number of pages12
ISSN1471-244X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The ARFID-GEN team acknowledges contributions of Ana Dobrot, Evelyn Watkins, and Ava Iwashita for their input on aspects of ARFID-GEN design. UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorder 2023 summer fellows Wesley R Barnhart, Kayla Costello, and Hannah Norling provided input and contributed to participant recruitment methodology. Study data are collected and managed using REDCap electronic data capture tools provided by the NC Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute, which is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, through Grant Award Number UL1TR001111. We also acknowledge the NCTraCS Community and Stakeholder Engagement (CaSE) team for assistance with community feedback sessions and the parent group F.E.A.S.T for assisting with making parents of children with ARFID aware of the ARFID-GEN study.

Funding Information:
The ARFID-GEN team acknowledges contributions of Ana Dobrot, Evelyn Watkins, and Ava Iwashita for their input on aspects of ARFID-GEN design. UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorder 2023 summer fellows Wesley R Barnhart, Kayla Costello, and Hannah Norling provided input and contributed to participant recruitment methodology. Study data are collected and managed using REDCap electronic data capture tools provided by the NC Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute, which is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, through Grant Award Number UL1TR001111. We also acknowledge the NCTraCS Community and Stakeholder Engagement (CaSE) team for assistance with community feedback sessions and the parent group F.E.A.S.T for assisting with making parents of children with ARFID aware of the ARFID-GEN study.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder
  • Eating disorders
  • Genome-wide association
  • Picky eating
  • Psychiatric genetics
  • Psychiatric genomics consortium
  • Selective eating
  • Social media

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