Developing Transdiagnostic Single-Session Interventions for University Students Experiencing Disordered Eating: A...

Many university students encounter barriers to timely support for disordered eating. Brief, scalable digital single-session interventions (SSIs) may provide an engaging and accessible transdiagnostic pathway for early intervention where there is increased distress before a diagnosis emerges. The present study co-designed smartphone-delivered transdiagnostic SSIs for university students at risk of developing an eating disorder and evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and relevance of these SSIs.

A three-phase sequential mixed-method design was employed to develop a final suite of nine consumer-informed SSIs. Phase 1 quantified student (n = 165) prioritization of candidate transdiagnostic psychological targets for the apps of relevance to disordered eating, derived from prior empirical and Delphi consensus work. Phase 2 gathered qualitative feedback via focus groups across 18 students related to aspects that would increase usability of apps, including content, design, and realism. Phase 3 (n = 18) conducted a quantitative evaluation of the usability of the prototype SSIs, including subgroup analyses by weight-concern severity (low versus high).

The top nine candidate psychological targets included challenging life events, contingent self-worth, rumination, self-acceptance, self-criticism, loneliness, negative body image, negative social media use, and fear of mistakes. Overall findings indicated acceptable perceived quality between the weight-concern groups, with both qualitative feedback and quantitative ratings informing targeted refinements to clarity, engagement, and credibility prior to finalization.

Consumer-informed transdiagnostic digital SSIs appear feasible and acceptable as low-burden early supports for university students, providing a foundation for randomized controlled trial evaluation and scalable early intervention within university mental-health contexts.