A study protocol for a preliminary randomised controlled trial assessing the acceptability and effectiveness of two eating disorders prevention interventions in Switzerland: The HEIDI BP-HW project.

Isabelle Carrard,Sophie Bucher Della Torre,Martin J Tovée

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0259796

Isabelle Carrard, Sophie Bucher Della Torre + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259796

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Abstract

Because of the serious consequences of eating disorders on young women’s lives and because of the lack of specialised care facilities, assessing and implementing evidence-based prevention interventions is necessary. Switzerland, like other Western countries, has high prevalence rates of eating disorders. However, no prevention interventions have been evaluated in this country so far. This paper presents the protocol of a preliminary study with the aim to evaluate the acceptability and effectiveness of two interventions, the Body Project (BP) and the Healthy Weight Program (HW), for female students from French-speaking Switzerland. These two interventions were chosen because they have been widely evaluated and they proved to be effective in various countries. They take place in groups and include four weekly sessions over one month. Because of the pandemic situation, the group sessions will take place online on an collaborative platform. The design is a three-arm randomised controlled study. Ninety female students aged 18–25 and presenting with at least moderate body dissatisfaction will be randomised into three groups: (1) one-month BP intervention, (2) one-month HW intervention, and (3) one-month waiting-list control group followed by the BP intervention. Assessments of body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalisation, dietary restraint, negative affect, and eating disorder psychopathology will be conducted before and after the interventions or waiting list and after a one-month follow-up. ANCOVA and ANOVA with repeated measures will be used to assess group differences and follow-up stability. Acceptability will be assessed with a questionnaire on participants’ satisfaction with the interventions, group discussion at the end of the intervention, and with participants’ rate of attendance to the group sessions. The study results will provide additional data on these two eating disorders prevention interventions and will suggest ways for their dissemination and further evaluation in Switzerland.

Highlights

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses with severe consequences on the somatic, psychological, and social levels [1,2]
The diagnoses described in the current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5 [3]) include three main disorders: 1) anorexia nervosa, which is characterised by severe dietary restriction and a weight below a healthy body mass index (BMI); 2) bulimia nervosa, which is characterised by episodes of compulsive eating and compensatory behaviours for weight control; and 3) binge eating disorder, which includes compulsive eating episodes but without compensatory behaviours
According to the authors of this study, these prevalences were comparable to those of other westernised countries and even higher for bulimia nervosa, which is a pathology strongly influenced by culture [6]

Summary

Introduction

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses with severe consequences on the somatic, psychological, and social levels [1,2]. The diagnoses described in the current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5 [3]) include three main disorders: 1) anorexia nervosa, which is characterised by severe dietary restriction and a weight below a healthy body mass index (BMI); 2) bulimia nervosa, which is characterised by episodes of compulsive eating and compensatory behaviours for weight control; and 3) binge eating disorder, which includes compulsive eating episodes but without compensatory behaviours Subthreshold forms of these disorders, manifesting with only some symptoms of the full syndromes, cause significant suffering [4]. The critical period during which eating disorders develop, the difficulty of treating these disorders, the suffering they cause, together with the costs they generate, highlight their public-health significance, and lead researchers to recommand the development and evaluation of prevention interventions for eating disorders targeting young adults [14]

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