Completed

Principal Investigator(s): Sona Dimidjian, PhD

Research Team Members: Samantha Strife, PhD; Rachel Vanderkruik, PhD

This study contributes to the flourishing and well-being of young people by strengthening a proven, peer-led intervention that improves body satisfaction among high school and college-aged women. By examining peer-leaders’ training needs and preferences, it identifies concrete ways to enhance the quality, reach, and sustainability of the Body Project, a cost-effective prevention program that can be widely disseminated in school and campus settings. The resulting recommendations can improve how educators, campus staff, and peer-leaders are prepared to deliver programs, ultimately fostering healthier body image, reducing risk for eating disorders, and supporting mental health in youth.

The overall aim of the study was to describe peer-leaders’ perceptions of their training needs and preferences to deliver prevention programs.

Undergraduate psychology students enrolled in a field placement course were trained as Body Project peer-leaders and invited to participate in the study; 14 of 22 trained peer-leaders took part. Training was delivered in two formats: an intensive 2-day workshop led by a Body Project Collaborative staff member, and a distributed, multi-week training led by the course professor with ongoing consultation. Across both semesters, training covered core content, including the thin ideal, its costs, and strategies to challenge appearance pressures and “fat talk.” The study used two 45-minute focus groups each semester (one post-training, one after group facilitation) to explore peer-leaders’ views on training strengths and needed improvements. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed to identify and refine themes about training strengths and areas for improvement, resulting in nine final themes.

Overall, the findings suggest that peer-leader training was perceived as impactful, personally meaningful, and well-designed, particularly in fostering connection and skill development, and recommendations for future training include attention to language and difficult comments from participants, balancing structure and flexibility, training duration options, and cultural and contextual considerations.

Becker, C. B., Smith, L. M., & Ciao, A. C. (2006). Peer facilitated eating disorders prevention: A randomized effectiveness trial of cognitive dissonance and media advocacy. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 550–555. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.53.4.550

Becker, C. B., Wilson, C., Williams, A., Kelly, M., McDaniel, L., & Elmquist, J. (2010). Peer facilitated cognitive dissonance versus healthy weight eating disorders prevention: A randomized comparison. Body Image, 7, 280–288. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2010.06.004