A Demographic and Symptom Descriptive Study of Callers to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders: Linking Research and Advocacy 

Phone support hotlines are an invaluable service to many eating disorder sufferers and their loved ones, and can also provide important data for eating disorder research. In the present study, the demographic and symptom information of nearly 800 volunteer callers to a free national eating disorder support and referral hotline was analyzed. Findings indicate that eating disorder sufferers who are referenced through hotline resources tend to be older, come from more varied socioeconomic backgrounds, and have more atypical symptoms than what is generally described in existing sources. Results are discussed in light of future directions for hotline research.