Reduction of overweight and eating disorder symptoms via the Internet in adolescents: a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: Overweight in adolescence is a significant problem which is associated with body dissatisfaction and eating disorder (ED) behaviors. Cost-effective methods for early intervention of obesity and prevention of ED are important because of the refractory nature of both. This multisite RCT evaluated an Internet-delivered program targeting weight loss and ED attitudes/behaviors in adolescents.

Do adherence variables predict outcome in an online program for the prevention of eating disorders?

Unlike traditional interventions, Internet interventions allow for objective tracking and examination of the usage of program components. Student Bodies (SB), an online eating disorder (ED) prevention program, significantly reduced ED attitudes/behaviors in college-aged women with high body image concerns, and reduced the development of EDs in some higher risk subgroups. The authors investigated how adherence measures were associated with ED attitudes and behaviors after treatment.

A pilot study of an interactive web site in the workplace for reducing alcohol consumption.

An interactive web-site-based intervention for reducing alcohol consumption was pilot tested. Participants were 145 employees of a work site in the Silicon Valley region of California, categorized as low or moderate risk for alcohol problems. All participants were given access to a web site that provided feedback on their levels of stress and use of coping strategies.

Maintenance of internet-based prevention: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Excessive weight or shape concerns and dieting are among the most important and well-established risk factors for the development of symptoms of disordered eating or full-syndrome eating disorders. Prevention programs should therefore target these factors in order to reduce the likelihood of developing an eating disorder. The aims of this study were to determine the short-term and maintenance effects of an internet-based prevention program for eating disorders.

Prevention of eating disorders in at-risk college-age women.

Context: Eating disorders, an important health problem among college-age women, may be preventable, given that modifiable risk factors for eating disorders have been identified and interventions have been evaluated to reduce these risk factors.

Objective: To determine if an Internet-based psychosocial intervention can prevent the onset of eating disorders (EDs) in young women at risk for developing EDs.

Setting: San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

The adverse effect of negative comments about weight and shape from family and siblings on women at high risk for eating disorders.

Objective: Our purpose with this work was to examine the relationship between negative comments about weight, shape, and eating and social adjustment, social support, self-esteem, and perceived childhood abuse and neglect.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted with 455 college women with high weight and shape concerns, who participated in an Internet-based eating disorder prevention program. Baseline assessments included: perceived family negative comments about weight, shape, and eating; social adjustment; social support; self-esteem; and childhood abuse and neglect.

Effectiveness of a computer-based interactive eating disorders prevention program at long-term follow-up.

Computer-based delivery of health-related psychoeducational programming is increasingly popular. In the present study, 72 non-symptomatic undergraduate women were randomized to an Internet-based prevention program for eating disorders with or without accompanying discussion groups, or a control group. Sixty-one of the women (84%) completed the Student Bodies program, and were assessed at short and eight-nine month follow-up.

Use of diet pills and other dieting aids in a college population with high weight and shape concerns.

Objective: The current study examines diet aid use among college women at risk for eating disorders and explores characteristics associated with diet aid use.

Method: Participants were 484 college women<30 years from 6 universities in the San Francisco Bay Area (SF) and San Diego who were at risk for developing eating disorders. A checklist assessed diet pill, fat blocker, diuretic, laxative, and other diet aid use over the past 12 months.

Online support groups for Parkinson's patients: a pilot study of effectiveness.

(A) Will PD patients participate in online, professionally led support groups? (B) What are their demographics characteristics and PD severity? (C) Are such groups beneficial? (D) Should patients be grouped for stage of disease? Depression and quality of life were assessed. Sixty-six people were assigned to a 20-week, professionally facilitated online support group. Participants were assigned to one of 2 group types based on patient similarity: homogeneous and heterogeneous.

Spirituality among young women at risk for eating disorders.

Objective: This study examined the spiritual and religious (S/R) beliefs and practices of college-age women at high-risk for eating disorders, and the relationship between body image distress, coping, and S/R.

Method: Two hundred fifty-five college-age women with elevated weight and shape concerns, assessed using the Weight/Shape Concerns Scale and the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE), completed surveys about their S/R beliefs and practices.

Results: Women with strong S/R beliefs and practices cope with body dissatisfaction differently than women without strong S/R beliefs.

Improving compliance in on-line, structured self-help programs: evaluation of an eating disorder prevention program.

Compliance rates from four iterations of Student Bodies, an 8-10 week computer assisted health education (CAHE) program for the prevention of eating disorders in college-aged women, were measured. Each iteration was modified with the hope of increasing participant compliance. Participants were 116 undergraduate women from two large West Coast universities who were randomly assigned to either the CAHE program or a wait-list group.

Application of an algorithm-driven protocol to simultaneously provide universal and targeted prevention programs.

Objective: Our objective was to develop a model to simultaneously prevent eating disorders and weight gain among female high school students.

Method: Of 188 female 10th graders enrolled in health classes, 174 elected to participate in the current study. They were assessed on-line and decided to participate in one of four interventions appropriate to their risk.

An interactive psychoeducational intervention for women at risk of developing an eating disorder.

This study evaluated a synchronous Internet-delivered intervention (chat room) for improving eating habits and body image in college-age women at risk for developing an eating disorder. Sixty at-risk women (mean age = 18.9, SD = 2.

An evaluation of an Internet-delivered eating disorder prevention program for adolescents and their parents.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of Student Bodies, an Internet-delivered eating disorder prevention program for adolescents, and a supplemental program for their parents.

Methods: One hundred fifty-two 10th grade females completing a health course at a private sectarian school, and 69 of their parents were assigned to either the Internet-delivered intervention group or to a comparison group (students) or wait-list control group (parents). Student participants completed subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory, Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire, and a content knowledge test.

How to launch a national Internet-based panel study quickly: lessons from studying how American are coping with the tragedy of September 11, 2001?

This article reports on the planning, development, and implementation of a large national Internet-based panel study of how Americans are coping with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The study was designed to determine predictors and correlates of risk and resilience, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. In order to acquire timely and meaningful data, we developed/adapted an extensive set of measures, obtained human subjects approval, and posted a research Web site just 17 days after the attacks.

Combining universal and targeted prevention for school-based eating disorder programs.

Objective: This study examined a step toward providing a universal prevention program to all students while targeting those at risk.

Method: Seventy-eight 10th-grade female students were provided an on-line eating disorder prevention program and randomized to participate in (1) a higher risk and higher motivated group, (2) a lower risk or lower motivated group, or (3) a combined group.

Results: The students in the first group made significantly fewer negative and more positive comments in the on-line group discussion than the higher risk and higher motivated participants in the combined group.

Psychologists' ethical responsibilities in Internet-based groups: issues, strategies, and a call for dialogue.

How can psychologists participate ethically as facilitators, advisers, and peer members in Internet-based groups? The astonishing growth of Internet technology and on-line groups has outpaced the development of formal ethical guidelines for psychologists involved in on-line groups. This article provides an initial appraisal of psychologists' ethical responsibilities in discussion, support, and self-help groups that operate on the Internet and offers practical strategies for avoiding ethical problems. By presenting initial strategies and guidelines for ethical behavior in Internet-based groups, the authors hope to stimulate the field to further discuss and analyze these issues.

Evaluation of an internet support group for women with primary breast cancer.

Background: Women with breast carcinoma commonly experience psychologic distress following their diagnosis. Women who participate in breast cancer support groups have reported significant reduction in their psychologic distress and pain and improvement in the quality of their lives. Web-based breast cancer social support groups are widely used, but little is known of their effectiveness.

An interactive internet-based intervention for women at risk of eating disorders: a pilot study.

Objective: The Internet serves as a potentially effective method of treatment delivery through widespread education and interaction via synchronous Internet relay chat (IRC). The current study explores the feasibility of IRC in the delivery of an eating disorders prevention intervention.

Method: This small pilot study describes the delivery of an efficacious eating disorder treatment using a novel medium.

Reducing risk factors for eating disorders: targeting at-risk women with a computerized psychoeducational program.

Objective: This controlled study evaluated whether an 8-week program offered over the Internet would significantly decrease body image dissatisfaction, disordered eating patterns, and preoccupation with shape/weight among women at high risk for developing an eating disorder.

Method: Fifty-six college women were recruited on the basis of elevated scores (> or =110) on the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ). Psychological functioning, as measured by the Eating Disorder Inventory Drive for Thinness (EDI-DT) subscale, Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q), and the BSQ, was assessed at baseline, posttreatment, and at 10-week follow-up.

Reducing risk factors for eating disorders: comparison of an Internet- and a classroom-delivered psychoeducational program.

This controlled trial compared Internet- (Student Bodies [SB]) and classroom-delivered (Body Traps [BT]) psychoeducational interventions for the reduction of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors/attitudes with a control condition. Participants were 76 women at a private university who were randomly assigned to SB, BT, or a wait-list control (WLC) condition. Measures of body image and eating attitudes and behaviors were measured at baseline, posttreatment, and 4-month follow-up.

Effectiveness of an Internet-based program for reducing risk factors for eating disorders.

This study evaluated an Internet-delivered computer-assisted health education (CAHE) program designed to improve body satisfaction and reduce weight/shape concerns--concerns that have been shown to be risk factors for the development of eating disorders in young women. Participants were 60 women at a public university randomly assigned to either an intervention or control condition. Intervention participants completed the CAHE program Student Bodies.

Student bodies: psycho-education communities on the web.

We have developed a Web-delivered, multimedia health educational program, Student Bodies, designed to improve body satisfaction, a probable risk factor for the development of eating disorders in young women. The program includes psycho-educational content and a newsgroup for communication, and is delivered in a structured framework of weekly readings, assignments and postings to the newsgroup. Intervention group participants improved their body image, and reduced other attitudes that predispose to eating disorders.

Should patients' religiosity influence clinicians' referral to 12-step self-help groups? Evidence from a study of 3,018 male substance abuse patients.

Twelve-step self-help organizations maintain that anyone, regardless of his or her religious beliefs, can benefit from participation in their groups. Yet many addiction professionals have reservations about referring nonreligious patients to 12-step groups. The present study examined the influence of patients' religiosity on whether they were referred to and benefited from 12-step groups.

Effects of a body image curriculum for college students on improved body image.

Objective: This study evaluated the effects of an undergraduate body image course, "Body Traps: Perspectives on Body Image," on decreasing body dissatisfaction, weight concern, and disordered eating behaviors.

Methods: Twenty-four undergraduate females enrolled in the body image course. Measures of body image and disordered eating patterns were assessed at baseline and at postintervention.