Diabetes Body Project: Acute Effects of an Eating Disorder Prevention Program for Young Women With Type 1 Diabetes. A Multinational Randomized Controlled Trial.

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.