NCT07193043

Pilot Trial of the Body Image Program to Prevent Eating Disorders in Female University Students in Mexico

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of the Body Image Program (BIP) for Eating Disorder Prevention in Female University Students in Northeastern Mexico

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 30 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Comenzar de Nuevo, AC · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years – 25 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to examine whether the Body Image Program (BIP), a group workshop, is feasible and acceptable to deliver to young women in Mexico. The program is designed to help participants critically evaluate social pressures to be thin and to support healthier body attitudes. The main questions are: * Can the investigators successfully recruit, retain, and engage university students in the program? * Do participants find the program useful and clear? * Does the program show early indications of lowering body dissatisfaction and unhealthy eating attitudes? Participants will: * Attend 2 group sessions, one per week, each lasting approximately 2 hours (120 minutes). * Complete short activities and homework exercises between sessions, such as reflective writing or self-affirmation tasks. * Complete questionnaires at baseline, immediately after the program, and at 1-month follow-up.

Detailed description

This study is a pilot randomized controlled trial designed to test the Body Image Program (BIP) with female university students in northeastern Mexico. Eating disorders and body dissatisfaction are common among young women and often begin during the university years. Most prevention programs have been evaluated only in Western countries. This study will evaluate whether the BIP, adapted for Mexico, is practical and acceptable to deliver in this setting. The Body Image Program is a dissonance-based group intervention that encourages participants to challenge cultural pressures for thinness and to build healthier body image attitudes. In this study, participants in the intervention group will attend two sessions, each 120 minutes in duration, held once per week. Each session will include group discussions and exercises, and participants will complete short homework assignments between sessions. Sessions will be led by trained health professionals with experience in eating disorders. A total of 30 students will be recruited and randomly assigned to either the intervention group or a waitlist control group. The intervention group will be divided into small groups of about 7-8 participants to maintain interactive discussions. Students in the waitlist control group will be offered the program after the final follow-up assessment. The main outcomes of this study are feasibility and acceptability, including the number of eligible students who consent to participate, the proportion who complete both sessions and assessments, and whether participants find the program useful and relevant. Questionnaires will also assess body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, body appreciation, social physique anxiety, thin-ideal internalization, and appearance-based social comparisons. Assessments will take place at baseline, immediately after the program, and at 1-month follow-up. This pilot study will provide information about whether the Body Image Program can be delivered effectively in Mexican universities and will inform the design of a larger clinical trial in the future.

Conditions

• Eating Disorders
• Body Dissatisfaction

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Body Image Program (BIP)	The Body Image Program (BIP) is a culturally adapted, dissonance-based group intervention derived from the Body Project. It is delivered in two weekly sessions of 120 minutes each, in small groups of 7-10 participants, by trained health professionals with experience in eating disorders. Activities include verbal, written, and behavioral exercises to critique sociocultural appearance ideals, reduce thin-ideal internalization, and promote more adaptive body image. Each session ends with homework: after Session 1, tasks include a behavioral challenge and reflective writing; after Session 2, a commitment activity (e.g., self-affirmation or body activism) is completed within one week and submitted by email. Participants in the waitlist control arm complete the same assessments but receive the BIP between weeks 6 and 8, after the final follow-up.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-11-01
• Primary completion: 2026-01-01
• Completion: 2026-01-01
• First posted: 2025-09-25
• Last updated: 2025-09-25

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Mexico