A preliminary qualitative exploration of pupils, parents and school staff perspectives on a brief, school-based intervention for eating disorders

Background: While around one-fifth of UK secondary school pupils exhibit clinically significant eating pathology, in-school mental health provision does not include interventions to address such eating pathology.

Aims: This preliminary qualitative study aimed to explore the views of staff, parents and pupils, on the idea of introducing a school-based brief cognitive behavioural therapy programme for non-underweight eating disorders.

Method: 31 pupils, 22 parents and 27 staff participated in 12 focus groups across four schools. The semi-structured interview guide covered topics around the practicalities of a potential eating disorders treatment programme, the acceptability of the intervention, and likelihood of future uptake.

Results: Five over-arching themes and 12 subthemes emerged, reflecting the scale of eating and body image concerns, management limitations, and the importance of prioritising mental health over education. Advantages, challenges, considerations, and solutions were proposed for an in-school eating disorders treatment programme.

Conclusions: These qualitative data show that there is support for an appropriately implemented in-school delivery of brief, evidence-based treatment, demonstrating the potential scope of such an approach to support children and adolescents to receive early help with their eating problems and body image concerns.