Digital Bodies: A controlled evaluation of a brief classroom‐based intervention for reducing negative body image among adolescents in the digital age

Abstract

Background. A growing body of research has linked social media use to negative body image.Aims. The present research aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Digital Bodies, a brief classroom-based intervention that aims to improve adolescents' body image.Methods. British adolescents (N = 290; Age M = 12.81; SD = 0.40; Range = 12-13; Female = 151) were cluster randomized to intervention or waiting list control groups. Measures of body satisfaction, appearance ideal internalization (thin and athletic ideal internalization) and self-objectification were completed at baseline (T1), 1-week postintervention (T2) and 8-week follow-up (T3).Results. Multi-level modelling showed adolescents in the intervention group reported improved body satisfaction at T2, in comparison to the control, and crucially this effect was sustained at T3. Additionally, girls reported less thin ideal internalization at T2 relative to the control, but this effect was not sustained at T3. No other intervention effects were found.Conclusions. Overall, the findings provide initial support for the efficacy of Digital Bodies as an intervention for improving adolescents' body satisfaction.

Outcomes of a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of the SoMe Social Media Literacy Program for Improving Body Image-Related Outcomes in Adolescent Boys and Girls

“…The findings indicate only minor intervention effects within the full group and among completers. These findings are somewhat consistent with those of previous research, which found improvements across a small number of outcomes [ 53 , 55 ]. These small effects may be attributable to a number of factors.…”

“…Social media literacy interventions focus on developing social media literacy skills and teach strategies to challenge personal reactions to exposure to social media, including internalization of appearance ideals and social comparison [ 53 ]. To date, only a small number of interventions with a primary focus on building social media literacy to reduce body dissatisfaction and disordered eating among adolescents have been evaluated [ 53 , 55 ]. The first, BOOST, was a three-session intervention for Australian adolescent girls aimed at teaching skills to challenge advertising and images presented by social media [ 53 ].…”

“…In this small, non-randomized study, compared to the control group, those who received the intervention showed improvements in body esteem, dietary restraint, and media literacy from baseline to post-intervention. More recently, Digital Bodies, a single-session body image intervention, which aims to target appearance pressures within the social media environment, has also shown promising findings in the United Kingdom [ 55 ]. Adolescents in the intervention group reported improvements in body satisfaction at post-intervention and 8-week follow-up relative to controls.…”

“…With preliminary support, it appears that social media literacy interventions may reduce the negative impact of social media use on body image-related outcomes among adolescents. However, these studies were limited by their brief (or lack of) follow-up assessments, and only one [ 55 ] included adolescent boys. Consequently, further research is needed to examine the efficacy of a social media literacy intervention among adolescent boys as well as girls within a co-educational setting over an extended period of time in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design.…”

Targeting the link between social media and eating disorder risk: A randomized controlled pilot study

“…To date, five interventions have been evaluated that seek to interrupt this relationship between social media, appearance comparison, and body image/disordered eating. Four were classroom interventions targeting adolescents: a single‐session intervention challenging social media ideals (Bell et al, 2021); two social media literacy interventions (Gordon et al, 2021; McLean et al, 2017); and a three‐workshop intervention comprising one workshop about social media (Svantorp‐Tveiten et al, 2021). The only intervention not delivered to adolescents in classrooms was a brief self‐compassion writing task trialed with adult women prior to exposure to thin‐ideal Instagram images (Gobin et al, 2022).…”