Ruth Knight

Grateful to @cejpreston.bsky.social for her help getting each chapter of my PhD published over the last few years. For transparency, this paper was desk rejected five times before review and went through one round of revisions.

What is the impact of viewing social media style images in different contexts on body satisfaction and body size estimation? Previous research indicates that viewing images of bodies on social media can have an adverse effect on how individuals feel about their own bodies. Prior research has presented stimuli in various con...

This feels particularly relevant given the resurgence in diet related content across social media. Perhaps thinking further about what it is about these platforms that makes them so influential for body image might be one way we can develop a different narrative. jsomer.org/index.php/pu...

Happy that the last chapter of my PhD is published. We explored the different effects that of viewing the same fitspiration images in the lab or on Instagram. Instagram seems to be especially potent in terms of body image, particularly for those who already have some disordered eating.

Many thanks to @olademk.bsky.social @josefienbreedvelt.bsky.social @eleanorchats.bsky.social as well as all of our co-authors, and @mhrincubator.bsky.social for bringing us together!

We hope to highlight actions that can be taken by individuals across all levels and shine a light on the unique perspectives that early career researchers can bring to the barriers that we all face.

New paper!! Excited to share our new piece outlining an ECR perspective on children and young people's mental health research. We offer suggestions around funding, research practice, and institutional governance and processes to support a more socially just, equitable, and rigorous science.

Thoroughly enjoyed a day at the Institute for Health and Care Improvement's research showcase yesterday. Had the chance to share some findings and lessons from a current project with @ercaldwell.bsky.social, meet new people, and learn about the range of coproduced projects across disciplines here.

Here in beautiful Utrecht for the first time at #BRNet2025, ready to present our poster on co-production in body representation research today!

We brought together people across sectors and hope to meet regularly moving forwards. Let me know if you'd like to be added to our mailing list! Thanks @cejpreston.bsky.social for reassuring me I could do it, and @ercaldwell.bsky.social and @gburton221.bsky.social for hosting discussions.

Hosted the first meeting of the Yorkshire Eating Disorder Research Network today. Despite a heavy dose of imposter syndrome-induced nerves earlier, it was great to share discussions about challenges, facilitators, and priorities with others who understand the challenges of working in this area.

A great lab day out yesterday to present some research with @gburton221.bsky.social and @ercaldwell.bsky.social at a @tewv.bsky.social research event. Brilliant to hear about the projects being done through the trust and their ongoing commitment to real coproduction. Also got to see some ducklings!

Looking forward to our next meeting in a few weeks!

Just out! Our peer-reviewed critique of the Cass Review has been published by BMC Medical Research Methodology. Please read and share. We show that the Cass Review is fatally flawed and should not be the basis for policy or practice in transgender healthcare.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

It was a great day with lots of inspiring and thought-provoking research presented. Finished off on a high with an hour talking about collaborations in the sun with @drkaithomas95.bsky.social ☀️☀️

Day two in Edinburgh; looking forward to hearing about the incredible research that is being done across the Eating Disorder Research Network. Any conference with @edaceatingautism.bsky.social branded fidget spinners gets my vote!

A great first day in (sunny!) Edinburgh at the Eating Disorder ECR Network event. So valuable to share conversations about the context we're in, especially around funding and coproduction. It can be a lonely space and these events really help to combat that isolation.

Being on a two and a half hour long train journey is a really good time to completely dismantle an article. Just cut about six pages and it's already all the better for it. @harrietbarratt.bsky.social we are doing The Thing and it's strangely liberating!

Getting excited for the #BRNet conference in July! Will be presenting work around coproducing body representation research with @gburton221.bsky.social + @ercaldwell.bsky.social and get to travel with brilliant collaborators like @cejpreston.bsky.social + @annacrossland.bsky.social. Can't wait!

Thanks for giving us the resources and support to do so ☺️

Absolute joy to be bringing this network together with @ruthndwrites.bsky.social!

Am also grateful for this because we got to have such an enjoyable evening ☺️

I've come away from our first meeting feeling such a wave of appreciation for community, solidarity, and the bravery and wisdom of everyone who is trying to disrupt the professional-personal binary in mental health research. Looking forward to next time very much!

Are you interested in marginalization and how this influences eating disorders? We have space for 3 more group members to contribute to a research project on these issues. We have funding to pay for attendance at four meetings; the role can be as involved as you wish. Get in touch for more details!

Yep, I totally agree. We're always bound by the timeline of the project and that's not even nearly the same as the timeline of the relationships. Also agree re output! I'm interested in how we communicate those changes but it can seem invisible to external forces.

Getting to be part of a whole research team that is entirely on the same page is a joy, and our Co-Is @drlornaham.bsky.social and @carolepugh.bsky.social make up such a brilliant team. For anyone invested in the culinary decisions of teenagers, "picky bits" have been requested for next time! (6/6)

I feel grateful for @cherylreid.bsky.social who is our RA, and has such an amazing capacity to just be with the young people we're working with, and Jonny Randall who is making the film for this project, and immediately 'got it' and met everyone exactly where they were. (5/n)

When we do come to doing the research in the typical sense, it will be better for this. But in a way that's not the point, we do this not just for rigour, but also because it's the right way to do research, I believe. Also, and I feel like this gets mentioned less, it is so much more fun! (4/n)

There aren't any measurable 'outputs' from last night, nothing I could show a traditional funder to convince them that we do actually need money to hang out before we do anything specific. But there are tangibly stronger relationships, shared experience, and a lot of laughter. (3/n)

Building real relationships takes time, and often it takes not really 'doing' anything. Last night we spent a few hours eating a McDonald's, wandering campus, and chatting about the film we will make as part of our Institute for Social Justice Community Research Grant. (2/n)

For me, so much of doing coproduction with young people can be summed up in this photo. We hear alot about outputs, impact, publications, but less about this: hanging out and eating a takeaway. I do really believe, though, that this is the foundation for the rest of it. (1/n)