EFFECTIVENESS OF ONLINE-INTERVENTIONS AIMED TO CORRECT EATING DISORDERS AND CHANGE WEIGHT: ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STUDYING AND IMPROVING EFFECTIVENESS

Abstract

The paper summarizes the experience of Russian and foreign researchers in studying the effectiveness of online interventions to correct eating behavior and weight change. It formulates the scientific problem of the ambiguity of the quality of existing programs to work with multifactorial eating disorders. The research notes differences between the categories of efficacy and effectiveness, which consist of the quality assessment breadth degree. A meta-analysis evaluated the effectiveness of structured in-person and online eating behavior interventions without specifying a behavior change model. The paper outlines research limitations on the effectiveness of intervention programs in the eating disorders area (small sample size, which reduces the probability of detecting differences; unrepresented observation period for weight maintenance; different levels and types of motivation for weight loss among participants; high cost of participation in the program; highlighting weight loss as the main parameter; lack of data on the program’s duration). It develops recommendations for overcoming these limitations (researching a sample of 60 or more people; performing measurements of body parameters before, during, after, and six months after the end of the program; consideration of participants’ motivations; establishing a reasonable price for the program; including psychological indicators in the program; specifying the duration of the program and forms of work), respectively. The analysis of online programs developed recommendations to improve the effectiveness of online interventions to correct weight and eating disorders, considering the factors affecting the effectiveness of online programs (personalized feedback, social support, the use of a large number of technologies for communication (video, audio, text), the opportunity for self-disclosure, the complexity of treatment, etc.).