Effectiveness of a Computer-Based Interactive Eating Disorders Prevention Program at Long-Term Follow-Up

Abstract

Computer-based delivery of health-related psychoeducational programming is increasingly popular. In the present study, 72 non-symptomatic undergraduate women were randomized to an Internet-based prevention program for eating disorders with or without accompanying discussion groups, or a control group. Sixty-one of the women (84%) completed the Student Bodies program, and were assessed at short and eight–nine month follow-up. Participation in the program resulted in better outcomes across all groups compared to controls, and women in the unmoderated discussion group appeared to have the most reduction in risk. Benefits of the program continued at follow-up. Decrease in risk also was associated with time spent using the Internet-based program. The present study suggests that the use of Student Bodies may reduce risk of eating and body image concerns over the long term, and that moderation of discussion groups may not be essential for successful outcomes. Further research on larger samples will help determine the degree to which discussion groups or the Student Bodies program alone are effective.

Portions of this research were presented at the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting, March 2003, Salt Lake City, Utah.

This research was partially funded by NIMH grant #MH60453 to Stanford University, and by a grant to the first author from the Frick Foundation. The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Notes

Note: ^a–d designate significant pairwise comparisons, p < .05.

Note: *p < .05;

^a–g denote significant pairwise comparisons at p < .05.