Research Publications

This article examined qualitative participant feedback to The Body Project in clinician-delivered groups, peer-delivered groups, and an Internet version of the program.

This cost-effectiveness analysis estimated costs to deliver The Body Project for college-age women and achieve clinically significant changes.

This article is a qualitative review of the existing The Body Project literature from efficacy to effectiveness to implementation.

This study examined the impact of age on baseline eating disorder symptoms/risk factors and as a moderator of three variants of The Body Project in college women.

This study reported effects of 3 variants of The Body Project (clinician-led, peer educator-led, Internet-based) for college women over 6-month follow-up.

This meta-analysis summarized effects from 56 trials evaluating dissonance-based eating disorder prevention programs and identified predictors of stronger effects.

This study examined whether sexual orientation (heterosexual vs. sexual minority) was associated with baseline risk factors or moderated The Body Project effects, finding no moderation effects.

This study reported effects of 3 variants of The Body Project (clinician-led, peer educator-led, Internet-based) for college women over 4-year follow-up, finding lower eating disorder onset for those in peer-led groups (8/1%) compared to both control participants (17.6%) and clinician-led The Body Project participants (19.3%).

This article examined differences in the effectiveness of The Body Project when delivered virtually vs. peer-led, finding that virtually-led groups produced significantly reduced eating disorder symptoms and eating disorder onset, making this a promising program to disseminate virtually.

This study examined whether the effectiveness of The Body Project differed between racial and ethnic groups and whether matching groups by race or ethnicity produced larger intervention effects.

This meta-analytic review tested whether an eating disorder prevention program significantly reduced future onset of eating disorders, investigating 15 trials (N=5,080), finding that these programs produced, on average, a 55% to 77% reduction in future onset of eating disorders.

In this study, the cost-effectiveness of delivery methods for an eating disorder prevention program is reported.

This large-scale efficacy study compared The Body Project to several alternate interventions aimed at preventing eating disorders over 1-year follow-up.

This study tested the model underlying The Body Project, showing that reductions in thin-ideal internalization accounted for significant effects of the program.

This study examined long-term effects of The Body Project and the Healthy Weight intervention from the first large-scale efficacy trial, showing each reduced eating pathology onset over 3-year follow-up by approximately 60%.

This study showed that The Body Project was effective when high school staff recruited participants and conducted the groups.

This study compared high- and low-dissonance versions of The Body Project; results provide evidence that dissonance induction contributes to intervention effects.

This effectiveness study examined effects for The Body Project versus brochure control over 1-year follow-up when college clinicians delivered the intervention.

This set of 2 pilot studies provided novel evidence that The Body Project delivery by undergraduate peers is feasible and produced positive effects in eating disorder risk factors and symptoms compared to minimal-intervention control conditions.

This study compared The Body Project outcomes for African American, Asian American, European American, and Latina female college students, finding no significant differences across groups.

This study compared The Body Project vs. control participants on neural imaging (fMRI), finding novel preliminary evidence that this intervention reduces valuation of media images (thin models) thought to contribute to eating disorder risk.

This study presented acute (6-month) effects for the Healthy Weight intervention, indicating it reduces eating disorder symptoms and BMI, with strongest effects for women with body image and eating disturbances.

This study provided 2-year follow-up effects for the Healthy Weight intervention versus brochure control.

This study compared the Healthy Weight prevention program to a new intervention called Project Health, which added dissonance-based activities to the healthy weight framework.

This study examined the effects of implementing Project Health in single-sex groups with food response inhibition and attention training.

This pilot study compared the new dissonance-based group eating disorder treatment (initially called "Counter Attitudinal Therapy"; since called "Body Project Treatment") to a usual care control condition, completing assessments at pre, post, and 2-month follow-up, finding large reductions in eating disorder symptoms for the new group treatment.

This study compared Body Project Treatment to an alternative treatment matched on therapy dose and modality, finding superior outcomes for Body Project Treatment.

This study provided the first evidence that Body Project Treatment reduced hypothesized intervention targets as assessed by survey, diagnostic interview, and fMRI imaging, confirming that the program works through its proposed mechanism.

An fMRI study showing that Body Project Treatment — a transdiagnostic, dissonance-based eating disorder treatment — reduces reward-region brain response to the thin beauty ideal and to high-calorie binge foods, confirming the treatment engages its hypothesized neural targets. (Psychological Medicine)

A randomized trial comparing the dissonance-based Body Project Treatment to interpersonal psychotherapy, examining continuous eating disorder outcomes and reductions in pursuit of the thin ideal.

A randomized target-engagement trial testing whether the dissonance-based Body Project Treatment changes its hypothesized mechanisms more than transdiagnostic interpersonal psychotherapy. (Psychological Medicine)

A large prospective study finding that overvaluation of weight and shape increased risk for the future onset of all four major types of eating disorders, providing the empirical foundation for the Priorities program.

The complete 4-session Priorities facilitator script and participant exercises, targeting overvaluation of weight/shape. Also available on the Download Materials page.

The revised home exercises that accompany the Priorities program, used between sessions to diversify participants' sources of self-worth.