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The Healthy Bodies Study: 2015 Data Report

January 1, 2016

Disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction are common in undergraduate and graduate student populations. Previous campus mental health research has focused primarily on depression, anxiety, suicidality, and substance use. Considerably less is known about eating disorders relative to other mental health problems common in student populations. This is particularly true when considering that eating disorders, like other mental health problems, exist along a continuum of severity. Where much attention has been paid to subclinical depression and anxiety in national epidemiological campus-based research, measures of disordered eating have typically been reduced to but a handful of questions about specific behaviors, often described in clinical terms. While important studies have addressed eating disorders in specifically defined student sub-groups (e.g., sorority women, female athletes, students from certain academic departments), these are usually single-site studies with limited generalizability. HBS takes a public health approach by assessing a range of eating and body image measures at the population-level.An annual web-based survey, HBS aims to understand students' relationships with eating, dieting, exercising, and body image, and how these relationships, in turn, fit into a larger picture of student health and well-being. HBS seeks to explore the prevalence and correlates of disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction, and the extent to which students with apparent need are utilizing mental health resources. Through close collaborations with campus practitioners and national mental health organizations, HBS researchers strive to inform policy and practice on college and university campuses. HBS is administered to a randomly selected sample of undergraduate and graduate students at participating institutions. An important contribution to the field of college student mental health, HBS addresses the diversity of disordered eating behaviors and attitudes among the diversity of students on college and university campuses today.

Online Intervention to Identify Students with Untreated Symptoms of Eating Disorders and Promote Mental Health Treatment: Winter/Spring 2015 (Pilot Study)

July 13, 2015

Disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction are common on college and university campuses, yet relative to other mental health problems common in student populations (e.g., depression and anxiety), considerably less is known about clinical and sub-clinical eating disorders. The Healthy Bodies Study (HBS) takes a public health approach by assessing a range of eating and body image measures at the population-level. HBS encompasses a number of related projects that seek to explore and address the prevalence and correlates of disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction and the help-seeking habits and attitudes of students with apparent need. The undergraduate years coincide with age of onset for eating disorders (19-25 years), presenting unique opportunities for early intervention on college campuses. Unfortunately, this opportunity is largely missed. The treatment gap -- the proportion of affected students not receiving treatment -- is wide: 80% of students with clinically significant symptoms do not receive care. Left untreated, eating disorders typically become more severe and refractory to treatment. In response to this, the HBS team developed and implemented a 12-week online intervention to identify students with untreated symptoms of eating disorders and promote help-seeking.The pilot study was conducted during the winter/spring 2015 semester on four college and university campuses. To ensure feasibility, the study was limited to four campuses while making every effort to ensure that these sites represented a diverse set of schools. The sites were: Appalachian State University, Bard College, Mercyhurst University, and University of Michigan.

The Healthy Bodies Study: 2014 Data Report

January 1, 2015

Disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction are common in undergraduate and graduate student populations. Previous campus mental health research has focused primarily on depression, anxiety, suicidality, and substance use. Considerably less is known about eating disorders relative to other mental health problems common in student populations. This is particularly true when considering that eating disorders, like other mental health problems, exist along a continuum of severity. Where much attention has been paid to subclinical depression and anxiety in national epidemiological campus-based research, measures of disordered eating have typically been reduced to but a handful of questions about specific behaviors, often described in clinical terms. While important studies have addressed eating disorders in specifically defined student sub-groups (e.g., sorority women, female athletes, students from certain academic departments), these are usually single-site studies with limited generalizability. HBS takes a public health approach by assessing a range of eating and body image measures at the population-level.An annual web-based survey, HBS aims to understand students' relationships with eating, dieting, exercising, and body image, and how these relationships, in turn, fit into a larger picture of student health and well-being. HBS seeks to explore the prevalence and correlates of disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction, and the extent to which students with apparent need are utilizing mental health resources. Through close collaborations with campus practitioners and national mental health organizations, HBS researchers strive to inform policy and practice on college and university campuses.HBS is administered to a randomly selected sample of undergraduate and graduate students at participating institutions. An important contribution to the field of college student mental health, HBS addresses the diversity of disordered eating behaviors and attitudes among the diversity of students on college and university campuses today.