ReviewJournal of eating disorders2026
Bridging autism and eating disorders: a scoping review on repetitive and restrictive behavioral patterns.
Review in Journal of eating disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by difficulties in social communication and restricted and repetitive behaviors (RBs). Autistic individuals frequently exhibit co-occurring physical and mental health conditions, worsening long-term outcomes. Among these, feeding and eating disorders (FEDs) are particularly prevalent. Autistic traits may increase vulnerability to FEDs, and people with FEDs often display elevated autistic features. In particular, cognitive rigidity in FEDs seems to reflect RBs patterns typical of ASD. The current scoping review aimed to examine the relationship between autistic features and FEDs with specific reference to RBs, and to assess whether this association differs between pediatric and adult populations.
methodThe review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews. A systematic search of PubMed, PsycINFO, and PsycArticles, with no time restrictions, yielded 204 records. Only peer-reviewed articles written in English were considered eligible. Consistent with our hypotheses, the review included research on autistic individuals as well as on individuals with FEDs or meeting established cut-off scores for FEDs. After removing duplicates and screening titles, abstracts, and full texts, 10 studies met the inclusion criteria.
resultsThe reviewed studies consistently reported an association between ASD and FEDs with respect to RBs across the lifespan. Of them, four focused on pediatric populations while six on adults. While specific types of RBs associated with FED symptoms, such as repetitive or unusually intense interests, are present in both pediatric and adult age, others seem to manifest differently according to the individual's age. Further, our findings suggest that RBs may play a role in predisposing autistic individuals in developing FED symptoms.
conclusionThe current scoping review shows that RBs may play a role in predisposing autistic individuals to FEDs but also it could potentially act as a feature of ASD in FED populations. Overall, our results highlight the need for tailored assessment, evaluation, and treatment approaches that can capture the unique presentation of eating disorder symptoms and autistic features.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.