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Topic · Clinical Psychology

Eating Disorders and Behaviors

Eating Disorders and Behaviors is a research topic within Clinical Psychology. Science Explorer counts 45k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the complex interplay of genetic, psychological, and societal factors contributing to eating disorders, body image concerns, and obesity. It delves into the prevalence, risk factors, neurobiological correlates, and treatment approaches for these conditions, with a particular focus on adolescents and the role of genetics. The papers also investigate the impact of media, social comparison, emotional regulation, and cultural influences on body image and eating behaviors.

  • Eating Disorders
  • Body Image
  • Obesity
  • Genetics
  • Psychological Factors
  • Neurobiological Correlates
  • Prevalence
  • Treatment
  • Adolescents
  • Risk Factors
Research works
45k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
4.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+21%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
36% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Eating Disorders and Behaviors

Which countries lead Eating Disorders and Behaviors research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (2.6k and 780 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 2.6k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 780 works
  3. 3 China 638 works
  4. 4 Australia 543 works
  5. 5 Türkiye 536 works
  6. 6 Germany 522 works
  7. 7 Italy 511 works
  8. 8 Brazil 472 works
  9. 9 Canada 409 works
  10. 10 Spain 390 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 35.5%United Kingdom: 10.5%China: 8.6%Australia: 7.3%6 others listed: 38.2%36%largest
United States2,643 · 35.5%United Kingdom780 · 10.5%China638 · 8.6%Australia543 · 7.3%6 others listed2,841 · 38.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Eating Disorders and Behaviors research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill publishes the most Eating Disorders and Behaviors research, followed by Harvard University and King's College London.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 103 works
  2. 2 Harvard UniversityUnited States 92 works
  3. 3 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 57 works
  4. 4 University of TorontoCanada 56 works
  5. 5 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 51 works
  6. 6 Stanford UniversityUnited States 45 works
  7. 7 University of California, San FranciscoUnited States 43 works
  8. 8 University of PaduaItaly 42 works
  9. 9 University of California San DiegoUnited States 42 works
  10. 10 The University of MelbourneAustralia 40 works

Who are the leading researchers in Eating Disorders and Behaviors?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Eating Disorders and Behaviors include George Davey Smith, Walter Churchill Willett and Richard M. Ryan.

  1. 1 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  2. 2 Walter Churchill Willett United States 411k citations
  3. 3 Richard M. Ryan United States 395k citations
  4. 4 Ronald C. Kessler United States 360k citations
  5. 5 Hermann Brenner Germany 343k citations
  6. 6 Cyrus Cooper United Kingdom 342k citations
  7. 7 Edward L. Deci United States 325k citations
  8. 8 Mika Kivimäki United Kingdom 318k citations
  9. 9 Dan J. Stein South Africa 306k citations
  10. 10 Gonçalo R. Abecasis United States 300k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Eating Disorders and Behaviors?

The most cited paper in Eating Disorders and Behaviors is "Objectification Theory: Toward Understanding Women's Lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks" (Barbara L. Fredrickson, Tomi‐Ann Roberts, 1997), with 5,495 citations. Next come "Emotion Regulation: Current Status and Future Prospects" (5,189) and "Assessment of eating disorders: Interview or self‐report questionnaire?" (5,143).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Objectification Theory: Toward Understanding Women's Lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks Barbara L. Fredrickson, Tomi‐Ann Roberts · Psychology of Women Quarterly Jun 1997 5,495
2 Emotion Regulation: Current Status and Future Prospects James Jonathan Gross · Psychological Inquiry 2 Jan 2015 5,189
3 Assessment of eating disorders: Interview or self‐report questionnaire? Christopher G. Fairburn, Sarah J. Beglin · International Journal of Eating Disorders Dec 1994 5,143
4 The Eating Attitudes Test: psychometric features and clinical correlates David Matthew Garner, Marion Patricia Olmsted, Yvonne M. Bohr et al. · Psychological Medicine Nov 1982 5,027
5 The Prevalence and Correlates of Eating Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication James I. Hudson, Eva Hiripi, Harrison Graham Pope et al. · Biological Psychiatry Open access 6 Jul 2006 5,014
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Eating Disorders and Behaviors research done?

The largest centres of Eating Disorders and Behaviors research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), Istanbul (Türkiye), Melbourne (Australia) and New York (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Garda.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 241 works
  2. 2 IstanbulTürkiye 127 works
  3. 3 MelbourneAustralia 123 works
  4. 4 New YorkUnited States 106 works
  5. 5 São PauloBrazil 103 works
  6. 6 Chapel HillUnited States 100 works
  7. 7 BostonUnited States 99 works
  8. 8 BeijingChina 97 works
  9. 9 MadridSpain 91 works
  10. 10 RomeItaly 90 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. GardaIT · 23.9 works259×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Eating Disorders and Behaviors than the world average.

See Eating Disorders and Behaviors on the map

Where is the best place to study Eating Disorders and Behaviors?

Among universities, judged by research, Flinders University, Deakin University and King's College London score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 19.25%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Deakin UniversityFlinders UniversityKing's College LondonUniversity College L…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Flinders UniversityAustralia 75.820.5%14.6×37 +52.5%
2Deakin UniversityAustralia 73.022.1%9.2×38 +29.0%
3King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 72.316.6%7.1×57 +13.2%
4University College LondonUnited Kingdom 70.214.9%3.4×51 +45.4%
5Harvard UniversityUnited States 69.318.0%3.1×92 -4.7%
6The University of MelbourneAustralia 66.317.8%3.8×40 +20.1%
7Chinese University of Hong Kong, ShenzhenChina 65.625.7%5.2×9 +125.9%
8Monash UniversityAustralia 64.520.4%3.5×32 +19.3%
9UNSW SydneyAustralia 62.621.6%2.6×22 +18.6%
10Maastricht UniversityNetherlands 62.314.9%6.4×24 +23.7%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Eating Disorders and Behaviors, country by country

Is Eating Disorders and Behaviors research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 21% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Eating Disorders and Behaviors.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Eating Disorders and Behaviors as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.049% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Eating Disorders and Behaviors0.045% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Eating Disorders and Behaviors over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Eating Disorders and Behaviors9.9% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Questions people ask

Who leads eating disorder research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill publishes the most Eating Disorders and Behaviors research, followed by Harvard University and King's College London. By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (2.6k and 780 works in 2022-now).

All 1,273 questions in the Question Catalogue

Discussion

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