Avaliação da eficácia do programa “O corpo em questão” em jovens adultas: um ensaio clínico controlado e randomizado

Abstract

Eating disorders are disturbances in the alimentary behavior that lead to deleterious consequences to the individual´s health. Preventive intervention development to reduce risk factors is, therefore, needed. Aiming at to bridge this gap on intervention research in the national literature, the present study evaluates the efficacy of the program, "The Body in Question", upon risk factors for Eating Disorders in Brazilian young adult women. The intervention was performed through a Controlled and Randomized Clinical Trial. The sample comprised 141 university women, aged between 18 and 30 years, enrolled in the graduated and technical courses of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of the Southeast of Minas Gerais – Campus Barbacena (IF Sudeste MG). The participants were randomized into two groups: Control Group (n = 78; age: M = 21,14 e SD = 2,57) and Intervention Group (n = 63; age: M = 20,33 e SD = 1,76). The intervention consisted of a weekly session of 60 minutes, for 4 consecutive weeks, in fixed groups of 5 to 8 participants. The instruments used were self-administered questionnaires and scales, which assessed the students' body dissatisfaction, the influence of the media, parents and friends in Body Image, the internalization of the thinness ideal, symptoms for Eating Disorders, body appreciation, depressive symptoms and self-esteem. The questionnaires were applied at different times: before starting the intervention, immediately after the end of the intervention and in the follow-up of 1 month and 6 months. The statistical analysis applied ANOVA for repeated measures with mixed effects to verify if the Intervention Group obtained significantly greater reductions than the Control Group in the variables evaluated in relation to the baseline. Separate analyzes were performed for each variable, considering the relationship between subjects (control × intervention) and in 4 levels (pre, post-test, one month and six-month follow-up). To verify the Group × Time significant interaction, the follow-up tests were performed through repeated measures ANOVA, adopting 4 levels for the Intervention Group and Control Group. One-way ANOVA was used only in cases where there was a difference between the Intervention Group and the Control Group in the 4 moments. The results indicated significant differences between the group submitted to intervention and control, body dissatisfaction, socio-cultural influence of the media, internalization of the thinness ideal, inadequate eating attitudes, depressive symptoms and an increase in the self-esteem of the women submitted to the intervention. The effects of the intervention on the variables that presented significant Group × Time interaction ranged from r = 0.17 to 0.33, indicating the efficacy of the program in the population of young women. It was concluded that the intervention "The Body in Question" is a valid program to prevent several risk factors for Eating Disorders in young Brazilian women.