Clinical trial NCT05336253: Online Expert Peer Facilitation of the EVERYbody Project
Official title: The EVERYbody Project-Connect: A Randomized-Controlled Study Comparing Active and Passive Inclusive Online Body Image Content for College Students
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Body Image
Eating Disorder Symptom
Weight Bias
Keywords: Dissonance Intervention
Body Image
Eating Disorders Prevention
Lead sponsor: Western Washington University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-04-20
Enrollment: 170
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: FACTORIAL
Intervention model description: Participants will be randomized on a 1:1 basis through survey software to the EVERYbody Project-Connect or the self-help workbook condition
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: This randomized-controlled trial examines an online dissonance-based body image program for college students called the EVERYbody Project-Connect. The online (videoconferencing) intervention will be delivered using expert peer leaders in three 90-minute weekly sessions. Expert peer leaders for the EVERYbody Project-Connect are college students with lived and/or academic expertise within both body image and diversity and equity domains who are trained and screened for facilitation readiness. The comparison intervention is a passive, time-matched self-help condition using The Body Is Not An Apology Workbook by Sonya Renee Taylor. Both interventions explore diversity and representation within sociocultural body image pressures and provide tools for body acceptance.

The study is open to all college students in a universal prevention and risk factor reduction framework. Outcomes will be assessed before and after the three weeks of intervention and at three-month follow-up.

Detailed description: To date, three completed trials of the EVERYbody Project demonstrate that a gender-inclusive, diversity-focused, dissonance based group program can improve eating disorder risk factors and body image among college students. Through active written and verbal exercises and discussion, students directly challenge the cultural messages that appearance should fit within a narrow set of "ideals," critiquing the diversity representation within appearance ideals and incorporating new strategies for body acceptance.

Although peer (aka student to student) facilitation is commonly used for delivering dissonance-based body image interventions, an open training model (where all interested students are eligible to facilitate after training) may not be the most beneficial for leading inclusivity-focused body image groups. Research suggests that the EVERYbody Project is most effective when delivered by either (1) professional facilitators (faculty or staff with body image expertise), or (2) expert peer leaders (college students with lived or academic expertise in both body image and diversity topics who are screened for facilitation readiness during training).

The current trial explores an online adaptation of this program. The EVERYbody Project-Connect was created from the original program after end-user piloting with college students. The resulting program consists of three 90-minute weekly sessions delivered by expert peer leaders over a secure videoconferencing platform. Expert peer facilitators will complete a 16-hour online training and be screened for facilitation readiness before being approved to lead the intervention. Participants will be randomized on a 1:1 basis to receive the EVERYbody Project-Connect or a time-matched, low-dissonance self-help workbook intervention. Participants in this comparison intervention will be provided with an online copy of The Body Is Not An Apology Workbook by author and activist Sonya Renee Taylor and given weekly assignment instructions (90 minutes of activities each week for three weeks). Workbook activities will be completed on their own as a passive self-help intervention.

College students in the Pacific Northwest United States will be invited to participate in this study (universal intervention target, gender inclusive). Outcome assessment includes a comparison of changes in eating disorder risk factors, eating disorder symptoms, and related constructs across conditions over time (from pre- to post-intervention and through 3-month follow-up). Program satisfaction will be assessed at post-intervention, and program application will be evaluated both post-intervention and at follow-up.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Current college students (enrolled with university email address)

Exclusion Criteria:

* None

Primary outcomes:
measure: Internalized appearance norms
timeFrame: Change from baseline through post-intervention (3 weeks later) and follow-up (3 months)
measure: Body dissatisfaction
timeFrame: Change from baseline through post-intervention (3 weeks later) and follow-up (3 months)
measure: Eating disorder pathology
timeFrame: Change from baseline through post-intervention (3 weeks later) and follow-up (3 months)
measure: Negative affect
timeFrame: Change from baseline through post-intervention (3 weeks later) and follow-up (3 months)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Weight bias
timeFrame: Change from baseline through post-intervention (3 weeks later) and follow-up (3 months)
measure: Positive body image
timeFrame: Change from baseline through post-intervention (3 weeks later) and follow-up (3 months)
Other outcomes:
measure: Week 1 weight bias change
timeFrame: Assessed at Week 1 of intervention (one week after baseline)
measure: Week 1 internalization change
timeFrame: Assessed at Week 1 of intervention (one week after baseline)
measure: Program satisfaction
timeFrame: Assessed at post-intervention (three weeks after baseline)
measure: Program application
timeFrame: Assessed at post-intervention (three weeks after baseline) and follow-up (3 months)
Locations:
city: Bellingham
country: United States
facility: Western Washington University
state: Washington
Study officials:
References:
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