Feasibility, acceptability and efficacy of a school-based prevention programme for eating disorders: Cluster randomised controlled trial
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Body image dissatisfaction during adolescence is common but not benign. School-based interventions have the potential for wide reach, but scalability of previous programmes is limited by a reliance on external facilitators. AIMS: To assess the acceptability, feasibility and efficacy of a teacher-delivered body image intervention. METHOD: A pilot clustered randomised controlled trial in which 16 classes of adolescent girls were allocated to a 6-session body image programme (n = 261), or usual curriculum control (n = 187) (registration: ISRCTN42594993). RESULTS: Students in the intervention group had significantly improved body esteem and self-esteem and reduced thin-ideal internalisation. Effects for body esteem and thin-ideal internalisation were maintained for 3 months. There were no group differences for eating pathology, peer factors or depression. Acceptability, feasibility and efficacy varied between schools. CONCLUSIONS: Teacher-delivered body image lessons have promise but further work is needed to increase efficacy and make interventions suitable across a range of schools.
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Interventions that contain some elements of media literacy have shown promise in improving body image and reducing internalization of appearance ideals among adolescents.
“Interventions that contain some elements of media literacy have also shown promise in improving body image and reducing internalization of appearance ideals among adolescents [49,50,51,52,53].”
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References 40 · Cited by 56
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Jones DC, Vigfusdottir TH, Lee Y. Body image and the appearance culture among adolescent girls and boys. J Adolesc Res 2004; 19: 323-39.
- Phelps L, Sapia J, Nathanson D, Nelson L. An empirically supported eating disorder prevention program. Psychol Sch 2000; 37: 443-52.
- Baranowski MJ, Marion MH. Testing the efficacy of an eating disorder prevention program. Int J Eat Disord 2001; 29: 119-24.
- Authors
- Sharpe, H., Schober, I., Treasure, J., & Schmidt, U.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Sharpe, Helen
- Venue
- British Journal of Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Published
- 2013-12
- Volume
- 203
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 428-435
- ISSN
- 0007-1250 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-1465
- OpenAlex
- W2168742146
- Cited by
- 56
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 4.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The British Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (RP-PG-0606-1043)
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (RP-PG-0606-1043)
- King's College London
- Programme Grants for Applied Research (RP-PG-0606-1043)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
- Keywords
- eating disorders, body image, body esteem, self-esteem, thin-ideal internalization, teacher-delivered intervention, school-based prevention, adolescent girls, eating pathology, treatment acceptability, intervention feasibility, intervention efficacy
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Body Image, Faculty, Feasibility Studies, Female, United Kingdom, Health Education, Humans, School Health Services, Schools, Self Concept, Students, Program Evaluation, Cluster Analysis, Treatment Outcome
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