Bagnell Brain Center

Body dissatisfaction is a leading concern for young people and can have serious health consequences. Emerging approaches for improving body image are effective among adolescents in the school setting. However, the majority of trials are conducted in high-income westernised countries, despite body dissatisfaction being increasingly recognised as a global concern. As such, it is important to develop and disseminate interventions to promote body confidence among adolescents in in low-to-middle income countries, too.
One country where body image concerns are becoming an increasing issue is India. The investigators recently finished developing and evaluating a body image programme among adolescents in New Delhi, India; which found immediate and 3-month improvements in body image, disordered eating, self-esteem, and other related outcomes. Whilst these findings offer an effective body image programme for school students in urban areas of India, this may not be feasible for schools in more rural and lower socio-economic areas in India.
The aim of the present study is therefore to conduct an acceptability study, followed by a randomised controlled trial (RCT), of a comics-based body image programme among adolescents in a semi-rural area of India (Rajasthan), in order to understand its acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy. This comic-based programme will be based on Dove Confident Me, which was found to be effective among adolescents in Delhi, India.
To assess the acceptability of the comic-book-based programme, interviews and focus groups will be conducted with students and teachers. This in-depth feedback will be used to optimise the programme. Next, an RCT will compare body image and well-being of students who take part in the programme to students who do not take part (classes as usual) to examine the programme's efficacy. The investigators will recruit students and teachers from schools in a rural and lower socio-economic area of India (Rajasthan). Students will complete questionnaire assessments of body image and well-being before and after the 6-session intervention (across 4 weeks), and again at 3-month follow-up to assess longer-term benefits.
It is hypothesised that students who receive the intervention will have better body image and wellbeing relative to the control group at both post-intervention and follow-up.