None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Overall, there were two key aims of the current study. First, to assess the effectiveness of perfectionism and media literacy programs compared to control classes, in attempting to reduce eating disorder risk factors. Outcomes were examined with the targeted variables (perfectionism, media internalization and perceived pressure to be thin) as well as other eating disorder risk factors (e.g., shape and weight concern, dietary restraint, depression, self-esteem etc). Second, to qualitatively assess students’ perceived value and enjoyment of the respective programs. This was the first time an eating disorder prevention program targeting perfectionism had been evaluated.
Interventions
Two interventions were developed, one targeting perfectionism and one targeting media internalisation. Both of these variables are prospectively identified eating disorder risk factors. Both programs were 8 school lessons (50 minutes per lesson) in duration, delivered at a rate of 2 lesson per week. The programs were delivered by two postgraduate clinical psychology students (i.e., one student taught each program), with the regular class teacher also present.
Both programs were designed to b
Two interventions were developed, one targeting perfectionism and one targeting media internalisation. Both of these variables are prospectively identified eating disorder risk factors. Both programs were 8 school lessons (50 minutes per lesson) in duration, delivered at a rate of 2 lesson per week. The programs were delivered by two postgraduate clinical psychology students (i.e., one student taught each program), with the regular class teacher also present. Both programs were designed to be interactive (e.g., small group work, class discussions) as this approach has been found to have a self-esteem enhancing effect (O'Dea & Abraham, 2000) and to thus be more valuable than didactic delivery (Stice & Shaw, 2004). In addition, collaboration took place between the researchers and class teachers for suggestions regarding content, teaching style and learning activities. 1. The program targeting perfectionism was developed from an existing text (Adderholdt & Goldberg, 1999) that focuses on differentiating between the pursuit of excellence and being perfect. Student activities involved identifying the pros and cons of perfectionism, learning to identify perfectionistic thinking styles, "reframing failure" (ie., making mistakes can have benefits), developing coping strategies to cope with perfectionistic tendencies and learning how to change unehlpful behaviours through a graded approach. 2. The program targeting media internalisation was constructed around the key concepts of literacy, activism and advocacy and was informed by previous media literacy trials (Eating Disorder Awareness & Prevention, 1999; Wade, Davidson, & O'Dea, 2003) and in particular, a pilot study of the individual lessons with Grade 8 mixed-gender students (Wilksch, Tiggemann & Wade, 2006). Specific student activities involved learning to identify and challenge stereotypes presented in the media, learning about digital manipulation techniques of magazine images, identifying positive/healthy and negative/unhealthy messages communicated in the meida, and pracitising communicating with the media to express individual opinions regarding advertising techniques.
Sponsors
Simon Wilksch
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
14 Years to 16 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Year 10 students at 2 randomly selected secondary schools.
Exclusion criteria
None (pariticpants were intact school classes).
Outcome results
None listed