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A pilot evaluation of a social media literacy intervention to reduce risk factors for eating disorders
Author(s) -
McLean Siân A.,
Wertheim Eleanor H.,
Masters Jennifer,
Paxton Susan J.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.22708
Subject(s) - intervention (counseling) , psychology , media literacy , eating disorders , literacy , disordered eating , vulnerability (computing) , clinical psychology , randomized controlled trial , developmental psychology , medicine , psychiatry , pedagogy , computer security , surgery , computer science
Abstract Objective This pilot study investigated the effectiveness of a social media literacy intervention for adolescent girls on risk factors for eating disorders. Method A quasi‐experimental pre‐ to post‐test design comparing intervention and control conditions was used. Participants were 101 adolescent girls ( M age = 13.13, SD = 0.33) who were allocated to receive three social media literacy intervention lessons ( n = 64) or to receive classes as usual ( n = 37). Self‐report assessments of eating disorder risk factors were completed one week prior to, and one week following the intervention. Results Significant group by time interaction effects revealed improvements in the intervention condition relative to the control condition for body image (body esteem–weight; d = .19), disordered eating (dietary restraint; d = .26) and media literacy (realism scepticism; d = .32). Discussion The outcomes of this pilot study suggest that social media literacy is a potentially useful approach for prevention of risk for eating disorders in adolescent girls in the current social media environment of heightened vulnerability. Replication of this research with larger, randomized controlled trials, and longer follow‐up is needed.