OBJECTIVE
Young women with type 1 diabetes are at risk to develop eating disorders (ED). We evaluated a novel ED prevention program in a multinational randomized controlled trial.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Women (14–35 years old) with type 1 diabetes were randomized to virtual Diabetes Body Project groups or educational control. Outcomes were assessed at pretest and posttest (1–2 weeks after intervention).RESULTS
Compared with educational controls (n = 146), participants in the Diabetes Body Project (n = 147) showed significant improvements (all P < 0.05), with small Cohen’s d effect sizes for ED symptoms (d = −0.30, 95% CI −0.06, −0.69) (primary outcome), diabetes distress (d = −0.42), quality of life (d = 0.39) and dietary restraint (d = −0.31), and medium effect sizes for diabetes-specific disordered eating behaviors (d = −0.70), body dissatisfaction (d = −0.59), and pursuit of thin appearance ideal (d = −0.56).CONCLUSIONS
The Diabetes Body Project produced significantly larger acute effects with small to medium effect sizes compared with educational controls and has potential for broad implementation.
