Main description:

Eating disorders are among the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in adolescent and young adult females, affecting approximately 10% of young women. Unfortunately, less than half of those with eating disorders receive treatment, which can be very expensive. Thus, effective prevention has become a major public health priority.

The Body Project is an empirically based eating disorder prevention program that offers young women an opportunity to critically consider the costs of pursuing the ultra-thin ideal promoted in the mass media, which improves body acceptance and reduces risk for developing eating disorders. Young women with elevated body dissatisfaction are recruited for group sessions in which they participate in a series of verbal, written, and behavioral exercises in which they consider the negative
effects of pursuing the thin-ideal. Chapters provide information on the significance of body image and eating disorders, the intervention theory, the evidence base which supports the theory, recruitment and training procedures, solutions to common challenges, and a new program aimed at reducing obesity onset,
as well as intervention scripts and participant handouts. The Body Project is the only currently available eating disorder prevention program that has been shown to reduce risk for onset of eating disorders and received support in trials conducted by several independent research groups. The group sessions are brief and fun to lead, and this guide provides all of the necessary information to walk clinicians, teachers, counselors, and volunteers through leading the program for vulnerable
young women.

Contents:

Introduction ; Part I: Theory, Research, and Implementation ; Chapter 1: Significance of Body Image and Eating Disturbances ; Chapter 2: Theoretical Foundation for the Body Project ; Chapter 3: Evidence Base for the Body Project and Related Dissonance-Based Eating Disorder Prevention Programs ; Chapter 4: Recruitment Procedures ; Chapter 5: Training, Supervision, and Quality Assurance ; Chapter 6: Implementation Issues ; Chapter 7: Dissonance-Based Obesity Prevention ; Part II: The Manuals ; Chapter 8: Intervention Script for 4-session Enhanced-Dissonance Body Project ; Chapter 9: Participant Handouts for 4-session Enhanced-Dissonance Body Project ; Chapter 10: Intervention Script for 6-session Enhanced-Dissonance Body Project ; Chapter 11: Participant Handouts for 6-session Enhanced-Dissonance Body Project ; Chapter 12: Intervention Script for 4-session Project Health Obesity Prevention Program ; Chapter 13: Participant Handouts for 4-session Project Health ; Appendix: ; A. The Body Project Facilitator Fact Sheet (Ch 5) ; B. Body Project Session Adherence Forms (Ch 5) ; C. Body Project Group Leader Competence Assessment (Ch 5) ; D. Additional Resources for Information Regarding Eating Disorders and Possible Referrals ; E. Healthy Weight Facilitator Fact Sheet (Ch 7) ; References ; About the Authors