Dr Deborah Mitchison

Adjunct Associate Professor

Biography

Deb Mitchison is a researcher and a clinical psychologist, specialising in eating and body image disorders. Her research is directed at reducing the burden of eating disorders and associated body image problems within the population. She currently makes progress toward this aim by leading two programs of research.

The first is the study of eating disorder epidemiology, including the prevalence, burden, course, health service utilisation and risk factors associated with eating and body image disorders. This research applies survey methods to large population-based samples and cohorts.

The second is the study of treatment-seeking and health service use among people with eating disorders. This research makes use of a clinical database that pools client information from eating disorder treatment centres around Australia, as well as population-based survey methods to study facilitators and barriers to treatment-seeking.

These two arms of research converge to highlight the disconnect between the characteristics of people who experience eating disorders at a population level versus people who gain access to treatment for an eating disorder. Ultimately this will lead to applied research to close the treatment gap for people with eating disorders.

Research Interests

• Eating disorders
• Body dysmorphic disorder
• Muscle dysmorphia
• Epidemiological research methods
• Health services research

Qualifications and Recognition

• PhD, MClinPsych, MSc, BPsych(Hons)
• Executive Committee, Australia and New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders
• 2017 Early Career Researcher Awardee, Australian Psychological Society
• Member of the Eating Disorder Research Society

Research and Publications

https://research-report.uws.edu.au/wpubs/Portal.asp

arrow_backward Back to Members List