Impact of the Quality of Pastoral Care on the Incidence of Eating Disorder Symptoms in Schools

Abstract

Peak age for eating disorder (ED) onset is 10-19 years; therefore schools are wellpositioned to promote prevention and support at-risk individuals. However, to date, little is known about the possible role that school-based pastoral support might provide in this context. This study aimed to investigate whether students' ED pathology differed depending on the quality of school-based pastoral care. Four hundred and twenty-five participants from five UK schools (52% female; n =221) aged 16-19 (M=17.14, SD=0.76) completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire and the Health of the Nations Outcomes Scale for Children and Adolescents. A rating system was applied to rate each school's pastoral care quality, operationalised as available student support, staff training/knowledge regarding EDs and ED-related school policies. Pastoral care quality had a significant, medium-sized impact on ED symptom prevalence (ηp²=.06), with higher quality care resulting in lower ED symptomatology. Additionally, overall wellbeing was also higher in schools with better quality pastoral care (ηp² =0.05). High quality pastoral care may be a useful tool in fighting disordered eating in adolescents.