Kristin von Ranson

My research focuses on eating disorders and related issues, including questions related to etiology, classification, and assessment of eating problems and body image across the lifespan. I use various methods to examine risk, resilience, and maintenance factors for eating disorders in pre-teens, adolescents, and adults. In one research stream, I study the debate over whether eating disorders are forms of addictions. In another research stream, I study how to help bridge the gap between researchers' recommendations and practitioners' choice of psychotherapies for eating disorders.

Recent research projects include:

• Parents' views of the importance of research support in choosing a treatment for their child's mental health problem
• Uptake of evidence-based psychotherapies for eating disorders
• Development and psychometric evaluation of the Eating Addiction Questionnaire
• Associations between binge eating and personality in community women and men with and without eating disorders
• Weight stigma
• "Thinspiration" and "fitspiration" in social media
• Attentional biases related to eating pathology and food addiction

My graduate and undergraduate supervisees are conducting research pertaining to eating disorders and related problems; see http://psychology.ucalgary.ca/eatinglab/ for details.

For those thinking of applying to clinical psychology graduate school, see http://clinicalpsychgradschool.org/ for some tips and considerations.

National Eating Disorder Association

Alberta Centre for Child, Family & Community Research/PolicyWise for Children and Families

Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Member, O'Brien Institute of Public Health

Associate Scientist, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute

Full Member, Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education

Member, Hotchkiss Brain Institute

• Courses