Melissa J Atkinson1,2, Tracey D Wade1. 1. School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia. 2. Centre for Appearance Research, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Successful prevention of eating disorders represents an important goal due to damaging long-term impacts on health and well-being, modest treatment outcomes, and low treatment seeking among individuals at risk. Mindfulness-based approaches have received early support in the treatment of eating disorders, but have not been evaluated as a prevention strategy. This study aimed to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a novel mindfulness-based intervention for reducing the risk of eating disorders among adolescent females, under both optimal (trained facilitator) and task-shifted (non-expert facilitator) conditions. METHOD: A school-based cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in which 19 classes of adolescent girls (N = 347) were allocated to a three-session mindfulness-based intervention, dissonance-based intervention, or classes as usual control. A subset of classes (N = 156) receiving expert facilitation were analyzed separately as a proxy for delivery under optimal conditions. RESULTS: Task-shifted facilitation showed no significant intervention effects across outcomes. Under optimal facilitation, students receiving mindfulness demonstrated significant reductions in weight and shape concern, dietary restraint, thin-ideal internalization, eating disorder symptoms, and psychosocial impairment relative to control by 6-month follow-up. Students receiving dissonance showed significant reductions in socio-cultural pressures. There were no statistically significant differences between the two interventions. Moderate intervention acceptability was reported by both students and teaching staff. DISCUSSION: Findings show promise for the application of mindfulness in the prevention of eating disorders; however, further work is required to increase both impact and acceptability, and to enable successful outcomes when delivered by less expert providers.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: Successful prevention of eating disorders represents an important goal due to damaging long-term impacts on health and well-being, modest treatment outcomes, and low treatment seeking among individuals at risk. Mindfulness-based approaches have received early support in the treatment of eating disorders, but have not been evaluated as a prevention strategy. This study aimed to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a novel mindfulness-based intervention for reducing the risk of eating disorders among adolescent females, under both optimal (trained facilitator) and task-shifted (non-expert facilitator) conditions. METHOD: A school-based cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in which 19 classes of adolescent girls (N = 347) were allocated to a three-session mindfulness-based intervention, dissonance-based intervention, or classes as usual control. A subset of classes (N = 156) receiving expert facilitation were analyzed separately as a proxy for delivery under optimal conditions. RESULTS: Task-shifted facilitation showed no significant intervention effects across outcomes. Under optimal facilitation, students receiving mindfulness demonstrated significant reductions in weight and shape concern, dietary restraint, thin-ideal internalization, eating disorder symptoms, and psychosocial impairment relative to control by 6-month follow-up. Students receiving dissonance showed significant reductions in socio-cultural pressures. There were no statistically significant differences between the two interventions. Moderate intervention acceptability was reported by both students and teaching staff. DISCUSSION: Findings show promise for the application of mindfulness in the prevention of eating disorders; however, further work is required to increase both impact and acceptability, and to enable successful outcomes when delivered by less expert providers.
Authors: Mary L Phan; Tyler L Renshaw; Julie Caramanico; Jeffrey M Greeson; Elizabeth MacKenzie; Zabryna Atkinson-Diaz; Natalie Doppelt; Hungtzu Tai; David S Mandell; Heather J Nuske Journal: Mindfulness (N Y) Date: 2022-05-23
Authors: Tamara Brown; Theresa Hm Moore; Lee Hooper; Yang Gao; Amir Zayegh; Sharea Ijaz; Martha Elwenspoek; Sophie C Foxen; Lucia Magee; Claire O'Malley; Elizabeth Waters; Carolyn D Summerbell Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2019-07-23
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