Reducing Risk Factors for Eating Disorders

Comparison of an Internet- and a Classroom-Delivered Psychoeducational Program

Celio, Angela A.
Winzelberg, Andrew J.
Wilfley, Denise E.
Eppstein-Herald, Dori
Springer, Elizabeth A.
Dev, Parvati
Taylor, C. Barr

¹Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine
²Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego
³Department of Psychology, San Diego State University
⁴Harvard University School of Medicine
⁵Stanford University Medical Media and Information Technologies, Stanford University School of Medicine.

⁶Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to C. Barr Taylor, Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Room 1326, Stanford, California 94305-5722. Electronic mail may be sent to [email protected].

This study was supported in part by funds from the McKnight Foundation.

Received Date: July 22, 1999; Revised Date: December 3, 1999; Accepted Date: January 24, 2000

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 68(4):p 650-657, August 2000.

This controlled trial compared Internet- (Student Bodies [SB]) and classroom-delivered (Body Traps [BT]) psychoeducational interventions for the reduction of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors/attitudes with a control condition. Participants were 76 women at a private university who were randomly assigned to SB, BT, or a wait-list control (WLC) condition. Measures of body image and eating attitudes and behaviors were measured at baseline, posttreatment, and 4-month follow-up. At posttreatment, participants in SB had significant reductions in weight/shape concerns and disordered eating attitudes compared with those in the WLC condition. At follow-up, disordered behaviors were also reduced. No significant effects were found between the BT and WLC conditions. An Internet-delivered intervention had a significant impact on reducing risk factors for eating disorders.