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Body ImageBehavioralChildren's healthBehavioral

What this study is

Priorities aims to reduce body image concerns, prevent eating disorders, bolster self-esteem, and promote mental and emotional health by helping participants identify and nurture alternative sources of self-worth. Priorities would use group discussions, role-plays \& behavioral challenges, homework assignments \& letter-writing, and self-worth activism to achieve this. The Priorities intervention will be compared to The Body Project (an existing and successful harm reduction and eating disorder prevention program) for its effectiveness of reducing body image concerns and eating disorder outcomes. This study aims to evaluate whether there is a more effective eating disorder prevention program than The Body Project.

What's being tested

  • Priorities

    Intervention · BEHAVIORAL

    Priorities aims to reduce body image concerns, prevent eating disorders, bolster self-esteem, and promote mental and emotional health by helping participants identify and nurture alternative sources of self-worth. Priorities would use group discussions, role-plays \& behavioral challenges, homework assignments \& letter-writing, and self-worth activism to achieve this. Priorities script: https://shorturl.at/UzWQG

  • Body Project

    Intervention · BEHAVIORAL

    The Body Project is the only ED prevention program that has repeatedly reduced future onset of EDs, produced effects when evaluated by independent researchers, produced stronger effects than credible alternative interventions, and affected objective outcomes (Stice et al., 2019). The Body Project is a dissonance-based ED prevention program wherein high-risk young women with body image concerns collectively critique pursuit of the thin appearance ideal in verbal, written, and behavioral exercises. It has produced greater reductions in risk factors (pursuit of the thin ideal, body dissatisfaction, dieting, negative affect), ED symptoms, and future ED onset over a 2- to 4-year follow-ups than assessment-only control conditions and alternative interventions in over 25 controlled trials (e.g., Becker et al., 2010; Ghaderi et al.,2020; Halliwell \& Diedrichs, 2014; Stice et al., 2000, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2020). Body Project Script: https://shorturl.at/6SSmP

Study details

Official title
Pilot Testing Overvaluation of Weight and Shape Intervention vs The Body Project
Sponsor
Stanford University
Conditions
Body Image · Mental Health Outcomes · Eating Disorders · Body Dysmorphic Disorders · Self-esteem
Enrolling
90 people
Starts
2026-07-01
Est. completion
2027-06-01
Design
Open-label, randomized, parallel groups
Record
View on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗