# Population-Specific Eating Disorder Risk Factors in Sexual Minority Women

> **NIH NIH K99** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2022 · $122,609

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric illnesses and profound health consequences
for those affected. Relative to their heterosexual peers, sexual minority women are at heightened risk of
developing an eating disorder, yet little is known about the risk factors contributing to this disparity. The
overarching goal of this Pathway to Independence Award is to gain advanced training and mentorship required
to launch Dr. Simone's career as an independent investigator who rigorously investigates the mechanisms
contributing to disparities in sexual minority populations. To achieve this goal, a multifaceted training plan
including coursework, training, mentorship, and research is proposed in: (1) community-based and community-
engaged research, (2) mixed-methods design and analysis, and (3) sexual minority health equity research. The
knowledge derived from this training plan will prepare Dr. Simone to execute the proposed research, including
three research aims and two data collection efforts. During the K99 phase, a mixed-methods case-control
study will gain a broad scope of population-specific eating disorder risk factors in sexual minority women (Aim
1) through rich quantitative assessments about eating disorder symptoms, sociocultural pressures and minority
stress, and video diaries that capture the response to discrimination, social pressure, and eating disorder
episodes in real time. The results from Aim 1 and the community stakeholder advisory board (n=6) will inform
the scope of the subsequent research. A well-known limitation of health disparity research is a lack of validated
measures for use with minority samples. In line with NIH priorities, during the R00 phase, a population-specific
measure of eating disorder risk factors will be developed (Aim 2) with guidance from the community advisory
board and pertinent themes from Aim 1. Cognitive interviews with 30 sexual minority women will elucidate the
content validity of each item. The psychometric properties of the scale will be derived from the Aim 3 sample.
Finally, the temporality of associations between population-specific risk factors and eating disorder behaviors
and the extent to which such relations differ by sexual identity (e.g., queer, lesbian), race, and ethnicity (Aim 3)
by employing a daily process ecological momentary assessment in a case-control study. The proposed novel
mixed-methods research will elucidate population-specific eating disorder risk factors in an understudied
population, sexual minority women. Identification of population-specific risk factors and their associations with
eating disorder symptoms in racially and ethnically diverse sexual minority women will produce guidelines for
community programs and intervention efforts to rectify disparities, and the proposed measure will enhance
surveillance of population-specific eating disorder risk and advance future research of such mechanisms. This
award will launch the PI's in...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10470306
- **Project number:** 5K99MD015770-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Melissa Simone
- **Activity code:** K99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $122,609
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-08-16 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10470306

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10470306, Population-Specific Eating Disorder Risk Factors in Sexual Minority Women (5K99MD015770-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10470306. Licensed CC0.

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