Eating disorders And Technology: Implementing wearables in the treatment of eating disorders

The general aim of this project is to investigate the potential use of wearable devices in the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up trajectory of eating disorders. Specifically, we aim to use wearable devices, in combination with the experience sampling method (ESM), to measure stress reactivity as well as resilience in the illness trajectory of patients diagnosed with an eating disorder. Wearable devices can measure movement, biorhythm (eat- and sleep patterns) and body stress responses, such as the activity of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) (eg. heart rate, heart rate variability, skin conductance, skin temperature and breathing rate). In addition, ESM can register coping skills, affect and lifestyle choices in real time. These techniques combined provide a unique opportunity to evaluate physical and psychological responses to real time contextual stress in an individualized way. The hypothesis is that the integration of such data has the potential to facilitate early detection of developing eating disorder symptoms, and create the possibility for early, more preventive, interventions.