Me, You & Us: a programme for preventing eating disorders in UK secondary schools

• Register: ISRCTN
• Last refreshed on: 2 October 2017
• Main ID: ISRCTN42594993
• Date of registration: 19/02/2013
• Prospective Registration: No
• Primary sponsor: King's College London (UK)
• Public title: Me, You & Us: a programme for preventing eating disorders in UK secondary schools
• Scientific title: Me, You & Us: a programme for preventing eating disorders in UK secondary schools - a cluster randomised controlled trial
• Date of first enrolment: 01/06/2011
• Target sample size: 1852
• Recruitment status: Completed
• URL: http://isrctn.com/ISRCTN42594993
• Study type: Interventional
• Study design: Single-centre cluster randomised controlled trial (Prevention)
• Phase: Not Applicable

Countries of recruitment

United Kingdom

Contacts

• Name: Ulrike Schmidt

Key inclusion & exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: School inclusion criteria: UK based secondary school with students in years 8 and/or 9

Participant inclusion criteria: student (male or female) in year 8 or 9 in participating secondary school
Exclusion criteria: Participant exclusion criteria:
1. Lack of parental/carer consent
2. Insufficient English language ability to understand assent procedures or complete questionnaire measures

Age minimum:
Age maximum:
Gender: Both

Health Condition(s) or Problem(s) studied

Eating disorders / body dissatisfaction
Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Eating disorder, unspecified

Intervention(s)

Participants in classes allocated to the intervention arm received six 50 minute sessions outlined in the Me, You & Us manual, focusing on media literacy, peer interactions, boosting mood and self-esteem. The sessions were delivered as part of the usual school day by teachers in participating schools. Teachers received a two hour training session on the material prior to delivery. Specific content of the sessions can be obtained from the contact details listed below.

Participants in classes allocated to the control arm received no intervention (?curriculum as usual?). Lessons provided will be those usually given by school staff.

Primary Outcome(s)

Participant self-reported body esteem, assessed by the 23-item Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults. Questionnaires were administered at baseline, post-intervention and three-month follow-up

Secondary Outcome(s)

1. Participant self-reported questionnaires assessing:
1.1. Eating pathology (Eating Disorders Diagnostic Scale, 22 items)
1.2. Thin-ideal internalization (Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale ? Internalization, 9 items)
1.3. Appearance conversations with friends (Appearance Conversations with Friends Scale, 5 items)
1.4. Peer support (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support ? Friends, 4 items)
1.5. Depressive symptoms (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, 21 items)
1.6. Self-esteem (1 item)
All questionnaires administered at baseline, post-intervention and three-month follow-up
2. In addition participants provided feedback on the acceptability of the intervention at post-intervention with two self-report items assessing how much students liked the lessons and how helpful they found the lessons
3. Feasibility of the mode of delivery was assessed through observations of two intervention lessons in each participating school, which were rated based on the number of activities outlined in the manual that were completed in the session

Secondary ID(s)

N/A

Source(s) of Monetary Support

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK) - Programme Grants for Applied Research scheme (RP-PG-0606-1043), NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Psychiatry, King?s College London (UK)