Evaluation of Peer-led EVERYbody Project

Western Washington University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Body Image; Eating Disorder Symptom

Treatments: Behavioral: EVERYbody Project; Other: Video + Expressive Writing

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04517942

17-004_2

Details and patient eligibility

About

The second trial of the EVERYbody Project explored the efficacy of the inclusive body image intervention when delivered by college peer leaders. The peer-facilitated EVERYbody Project was compared to a video and expressive writing comparison intervention through one-month follow-up.

Full description

The initial trial of the EVERYbody Project established that professional leaders could deliver a universal, inclusive body image program for college students, with benefit above and beyond a waitlist control condition. The second trial of the EVERYbody Project aimed to further evaluate the intervention using a more disseminable facilitator model: trained college student peer leaders. It also utilized a more rigorous comparison condition, where peer leaders conducted the two-session EVERYbody Project program or a time-matched video and expressive writing intervention. College students within a university in the Pacific Northwest United States were invited to participate in programming (universal intervention target). Quantitative assessment included a comparison of changes in eating disorder risk factor outcomes across randomization conditions at pre- and post-intervention and one-month follow-up. Feasibility and acceptability explored the impact of the peer delivered program within universal college student audiences.

Enrollment: 141 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Current college student enrolled at institution where research was taking place

Exclusion criteria

• None

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Factorial Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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141 participants in 2 patient groups

EVERYbody Project: Peer facilitator version

Experimental group

Description:

This dissonance-based body image program was created from focus group feedback (Ciao, Ohls, \& Pringle, 2017) and piloted in an initial randomized-controlled trial. Based on the Body Project (Stice et al., 2006), it retains key dissonance activities while adapting exercises to have a more inclusive focus (e.g., expanding the gender focus, exploring diversity characteristics within appearance ideals, adjusting activities to be inclusive of diversity). Around 10% of the original EVERYbody Project manual was modified to create the Peer Facilitator version for the current trial. Changes focused on adding individual exercises to draw out the critique of diversity in cultural ideals, refining prompts to be more suitable for peer facilitation, and flagging sections of the manual for more "expert" peer facilitation. Peer facilitators received 16 hours of training on the EVERYbody Project manual and peer facilitation guidelines (e.g., group management, handling problems, etc.).

Treatment:

Behavioral: EVERYbody Project

Video + Expressive Writing group

Active Comparator group

Description:

Video + expressive writing groups were facilitated by a peer leader following a detailed script. This intervention was designed as an active but low-dissonance comparison condition. Participants viewed two separate documentary movies related to gender and/or appearance-related pressures (one during each session): (1) The Illusionists (2015 ), and (2) The Mask You Live In (2015). Participants engaged in a brief (10 minute) reflective writing exercise after each film. In order to keep dissonance low, participants were told that their reflections would not be shared with anyone and they were not turned in. Peer facilitators received brief (1 hour) training on the video group manual.

Treatment:

Other: Video + Expressive Writing