The challenges of eating out for young people with eating disorders: a thematic analysis of the perspectives of young people, parents and carers, and clinicians

Background Social eating is a key aspect of recovery for many individuals with an Eating Disorder (ED). To develop effective interventions to support recovery of social eating we need to understand the challenges that people with ED face when eating in public spaces. This study was conducted in the context of the development of a virtual reality graded-exposure café intervention for people with ED. The current analysis explores stakeholder perspectives on the challenges that people with ED face in café environments. Methods People with lived experience of ED (n = 15), parents/carers (n = 4) and clinicians (n = 6) took part in semi-structured focus groups and 1:1 interviews. Transcripts were analysed thematically. Results We identified six major themes: 1) Facing the unexpected and unknown; 2) Cafés elicit difficult emotions; 3) Challenges are highly individual; 4) Challenges relating to the physical café environment; 5) Challenges of social interactions in cafés; 6) Challenges of the process of choosing and consuming food and drink. Conclusions This study highlights the challenges cafés present for people with ED, many of which also apply to other social eating scenarios. These findings will enable more targeted support and development of novel interventions to help people with ED return to social eating.