Effects of a cognitive dissonance‐based eating disorder prevention program are similar for Asian American, Hispanic, and White participants

Abstract

Objective This study explored the effects of participating in a dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program on changes in thin ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, and eating symptoms among White, Asian American, and Hispanic participants. Method Participants were (n = 394), 13 to 20-year-old adolescent girls and young women who reported being White (n = 311), Hispanic/Latina (n = 61), or Asian-American/Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (n = 33). The current study used data drawn from the pre- and post assessments of an efficacy trial and an effectiveness trial of this eating disorder prevention program. Results The intervention reduced disordered eating behaviors and eating disorder risk factors for all three ethnic groups at post-intervention assessment; there was no evidence of significantly stronger effects in any particular ethnic group. Conclusion Results suggest that a cognitive dissonance-based prevention program for eating disorders may be equally effective for Asian American, Hispanic, and White adolescent women.

Effectiveness of a dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program for ethnic groups in two randomized controlled trials

“…Although differences in a single outcome in each study suggest that there was some variation in intervention effects across ethnic groups, a similar pattern of findings did not emerge in the two studies, suggesting that the variation in effect sizes, particularly in Study 2 may have resulted from the small cell sizes for some ethnic groups. Our finding that the B ody Project produced similar effects for various ethnic groups converges with a prior report that found that intervention effects did not differ significantly for Asian American, European American, and Hispanic participants (Rodriguez et al, 2008). These results echo evidence from an uncontrolled study that found that a universal eating disorder prevention program for female 5 th grade students that integrated relaxation, educational interactive discourse, and yoga was associated with similar pre-post reductions in outcomes for European American participants and participants from various non-majority ethnic groups (Cook-Cottone, Jones, & Haugli, 2010).…”

“…A related possibility is that participants who enrolled in these trials were relatively homogeneous in terms of acculturation, potentially because they are all attending competitive 4-year colleges, which might have attenuated ethnic differences in response to the prevention program. However, we found no evidence that the Body Project was differentially effective across ethnic groups in our earlier trial (Rodriguez et al, 2008), in which 75% of the participants were from public high schools, which is a population that may have greater diversity in acculturation.…”

“…To date, only one study has tested whether the Body Project produced significantly weaker effects for participants from certain ethnic groups relative to European American participants (Rodriguez, Marchand, Ng, & Stice, 2008). There were no significant differences in the effects of the Body Project on eating disorder risk factors or symptoms for European American, Asian American, and Hispanic participants.…”

Do participant, facilitator, or group factors moderate effectiveness of the Body Project? Implications for dissemination

“…Though we had no directional hypothesis regarding age effects, this effectiveness trial contained participants with a broader age range than previous efficacy research. Similarly, we anticipated no intervention effects as a function of race/ethnicity, given that none were detected in prior efficacy research (Rodriguez, Marchand, Ng, & Stice, 2008; Stice, Marti, & Cheng, 2014). Higher BMI was found to predict stronger eating disorder effects for the Healthy Weight intervention but not for the Body Project in prior efficacy research (Stice, Marti, Shaw, & O'Neil, 2008).…”

Coming Together to Calm the Hunger: Group Therapy Program for Adults Diagnosed With Anorexia Nervosa

“…Future research is needed that includes ethnic minorities and should consider how cultural differences for a specific ethnic group could affect group treatment programs (Rodriguez, Marchand, Ng, & Stice, 2008). The current literature located and reviewed for this project contained very few ethnic minority individuals.…”