Can a Single Session Intervention Decrease Eating Disorder Symptoms in At-risk University Students? A Pilot Study.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of the present study is to 1) seek input from young adults regarding the utility, content and structure of a single session intervention, and 2) to examine whether a single session can alter mental health symptoms in young adults. Specifically, the study will seek to examine how intervening with a core risk factor of disordered eating and low mood, self-evaluation based in appearance, may influence mental health symptoms, including self-esteem, low mood, disordered eating, and body satisfaction.

JUSTIFICATION:

This study is important for various reasons. Basing one's self-esteem nearly exclusively on appearance-related variables (e.g., shape, weight) is a risk factor for negative mental health symptoms, such as disordered eating, low mood, and diminished self-esteem. Thus, self-esteem based on appearance may be an important place to intervene to decrease potential negative mental health outcomes and increase resiliency. However, interventions which are designed to treat over reliance on appearance in evaluating one's self-esteem range between 16-20 sessions in duration and are often time and cost inefficient to provide to all individuals who evaluate themselves based on their appearance; and importantly, single session interventions have been shown to increase mood, healthy eating behaviours, and body satisfaction in young adults and adolescents. Thus, there exists a need for highly specific and specialized interventions which are informed by known past risk factors, such as overevaluation of appearance. Thus, development and testing of a single session intervention developed through consideration of research on interventions for disordered eating, low mood, and diminished self-esteem to date, and through consult with overevaluation of appearance, is a critical development to diminish the overall negative health consequences of a dysfunctional system of self-evaluation.

Given the paucity of research conducted on this specific topic to date, the present study will conduct two phases of the same study to examine a novel single session intervention to change how participants measure their self-importance. A checklist outlining the various components of the intervention session is in the Support Documents section. In brief, the intervention session will begin with individuals completing a modified version of the Shape and Weight-Based Self-Esteem Inventory (SAWBS) to assess their self-reliance on (overevaluation of) appearance. After completing this measure, participants and the clinician will discuss the participants overevaluation in reference to the average levels of overevaluation of other individuals their age. Additionally, the clinician will provide psychoeducation about their overevaluation in reference to the individual's risk for negative mental health outcomes (e.g., low mood, disordered eating, anxiety). Importantly, discussions and psychoeducation will be tailored by the therapist to intervene specifically with symptoms that are identified as the most concerning by the participant. Following this discussion, participants will complete a reflective writing exercise, complete the SAWBS again indicating which areas bring them pleasure that they would like to increase, and come up with a plan of action to enhance reliance on other areas that are important to them.