The Peer-Delivered "Mind. Body. Voice." Program for High School Women

Randomized Controlled Trial of the Peer-Delivered "Mind. Body. Voice." Eating Disorder Prevention Program Among High School Women

This study will evaluate the impact of a program (called mind. body. voice. or "mbv") that was collaboratively designed by youth, educators, and researchers, informed by the Body Project (Becker et al., 2013; Stice et al., 2019), Youth Participatory Action Research, and an extended co-design process. The study evaluates the impact of the mbv program on key aspects of mental health and well-being; specifically, body image and disordered eating symptoms, identity and agency, social and self-constructs, physical health and mood at five time points over the course of a year. Students will be recruited from two high schools and will be randomized to receive the mbv program or an assessment-only control group.

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric condition and are the second leading cause of mental health disability among young women. Given that eating disorders have their peak onset during adolescence (ages 16-19), prevention efforts among adolescent women are critical in order to avert the onset of these chronic and disabling disorders. The mbv program targets body image and appearance related pressures, awareness of body sensations, and agency and community building skills.The program consists of 10 weekly sessions and is delivered by peer facilitators. This study will implement and evaluate the mbv program at the high school level in order to examine the extent to which the program influences young women's mental health and well-being, particularly related to eating disorder risk factors and symptoms.

Utilizing a longitudinal randomized controlled trial, the study seeks to address the following aims:

1. To examine the impact of the mbv program on key aspects of mental health and well-being; specifically, body image and disordered eating symptoms, identity and agency, social and self- constructs, physical health and mood among participating high school women.
2. To explore young women's experiences of participating in the program, including strengths and limitations and perspectives on specific activities.

Inclusion Criteria:

• High school women, grades 9-12

Exclusion Criteria:

• Prior participation in the Body Project