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Expand Your Horizon: Testing a Brief Writing Intervention Focused on Body Functionality Among Adolescent Girls With
Klaske A Glashouwer1,2, Stella Weiland1, Jessica M Alleva3
1Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
The International Journal of Eating Disorders
|April 26, 2025
Summary
A single session of the Expand Your Horizon (EYH) intervention improved positive body image in adolescent girls with eating disorders. The positive effects on body functionality appreciation were immediate and short-term.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Body Image Research
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Body image research increasingly distinguishes between negative and positive body images.
- Functionality appreciation is a key aspect of positive body image and a potential coping mechanism for body image issues.
- The Expand Your Horizon (EYH) intervention aims to enhance functionality appreciation and has shown positive effects in adults.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the short-term effects of a single-session EYH intervention on adolescent girls diagnosed with an eating disorder.
- To assess changes in both positive and negative body image following the intervention.
Main Methods:
- Fifty-eight adolescent girls with an eating disorder were recruited.
- Participants were randomly assigned to either the EYH intervention or an active control group.
- Positive and negative body image aspects were measured before and after the intervention.
Main Results:
- The EYH group demonstrated significantly higher scores on positive body image compared to the control group post-intervention.
- No significant effects were observed on negative body image in the EYH group.
- Improvements in positive body image were sustained for 15-30 minutes after the writing exercise.
Conclusions:
- Writing about body functionality directly increases positive body image in adolescent girls with eating disorders.
- The intervention did not decrease negative body image in the short term.
- Future research should explore the long-term effects of the full EYH program as a complementary treatment.
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