Effect of A Healthy Body Image intervention on risk- and protective factors for eating disorders: A cluster randomized controlled trial
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the immediate and 12-months effects of a school-based intervention aiming to reduce risk and enhance protective factors for eating disorder development in high school boys and girls. Method: In total, 4,149 adolescents from 30 high schools were eligible for inclusion and 2,446 consented to participate and were randomly allocated to the Healthy Body Image (HBI) intervention or a control group (classes as usual). The HBI intervention is multicomponent consisting of three workshops targeting body image, social media usage and lifestyle. Linear mixed model and intention-to-treat analyses were applied to investigate the effects of group, time, and gender at posttest, 3-, and 12-months follow-up. The main outcome variable was weight and shape concerns, and secondary outcome variables were self-esteem, mental distress, body image flexibility, thin internalization, muscular internalization, drive for leanness, perceived media pressure, protein-and creatine supplement use, and diet aid use. Results: The HBI intervention significantly reduced eating disorder risk factor scores related to ED pathology, thin internalization and perceived pressure from media, which was particularly pronounced in girls. Positive intervention effects on body image flexibility were only observed at posttest for boys but grew increasingly larger for girls across the 12-month follow-up time span. Favorable intervention effects on protein and creatine supplement use were only present…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 4,149 participants or records.
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