TY - JOUR
PY - 2019//
TI - Depressive symptoms, alcohol and other drug use, and suicide risk: prevention and treatment effects from a two-country online eating disorder risk reduction trial
JO - International journal of eating disorders
A1 - Wilksch, Simon M.
A1 - O'Shea, Anne
A1 - Wade, Tracey D.
SP - 132
EP - 141
VL - 52
IS - 2
N2 - OBJECTIVE: Eating disorders are known to have high comorbidity, and the current report outlines the impact of an online eating disorder risk reduction program on brief, self-report measures of depressive symptoms, alcohol and other drug use, and suicidality.
METHOD: An online pragmatic, randomized-controlled trial was conducted with N = 316 young-women (M age = 20.80 years) across Australia and New Zealand. Media Smart-Targeted (MS-T) was a 9-module program released weekly while control participants received positive body image tips. Prevention effects (asymptomatic at baseline) and treatment effects (symptomatic at baseline) were investigated.
RESULTS: MS-T participants were 94% and 91% less likely than controls to develop Moderate or higher depressive symptoms at 6-month (MS-T = 3.3%; controls = 35.4%) and 12-month follow-up (MS-T = 3.4%; controls = 29.4%), respectively. MS-T participants did not commence using recreational drugs at any assessment point, compared to 18.2% of controls at a least one assessment point. Regarding treatment effects, MS-T participants were 84% more likely to no longer be using recreational drugs at 12-month follow-up (MS-T = 60%; controls = 21.1%). Mutitvariate logistic regressions revealed group, depressive symptoms and alcohol use to be significant predictors of elevated suicide risk, where being an MS-T participant, without depressive symptoms and not drinking alcohol, significantly lowered likelihood of developing elevated suicide risk. Disordered eating at post-program mediated the relationship between group and depressive symptoms across post-program to 12-mnoth follow-up.
DISCUSSION: MS-T shows promise as a program with important mental health benefits in addition to previous reports of lowered eating disorder diagnosis, risk and impairment.
© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0276-3478 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eat.23005 ID - ref1 ER -