Trial reportThe International journal of eating disorders2026
Acceptability, Feasibility, and Preliminary Effectiveness of a Mobile App for Teens With or at High Risk for Eating Disorders: A Three-Arm Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Self-Help, Guided Self-Help, and Guided Self-Help With a Social Networking Component.
Trial report in The International journal of eating disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Use of Waivers of Guardian Permission in the United States for Pediatric Digital Health Intervention Research Since 2020: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Acceptability, Feasibility, and Preliminary Effectiveness of a Mobile App for Teens With or at High Risk for Eating Disorders: A Three-Arm Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Self-Help, Guided Self-Help, and Guided Self-Help With a Social Networking Component.The International journal of eating disorders · 2026Trial
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveGiven the wide treatment gap for eating disorders (EDs) and that these problems often emerge in adolescence, novel tools, such as app-based interventions, are needed to prevent and treat EDs in teens. However, questions remain about the optimal level of human support and features within these programs that could enhance outcomes (e.g., social networking). We conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial of a mobile app for teens with or at high risk for EDs, comparing self-help (control) to guided self-help (GSH) and GSH+ social networking (GSH+).
methodN = 148 teens with or at high risk for EDs recruited from social media and an online EDs screen were randomized. Participants had access to their assigned intervention for 3 months and completed surveys at baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months.
resultsTeen qualitative feedback illustrated positive perceptions about acceptability and feasibility of the tool and its impact on ED-related thoughts and behaviors. There were no significant differences across groups for the main outcome, global ED psychopathology, but there was a significant reduction for all groups over time (ps < 0.01; d = -0.93 from baseline to 6 months). While all intervention conditions had significant reductions in binge eating behaviors over time, the rate of reduction was greatest in the GSH condition (p < 0.001).
conclusionsOverall, our preliminary findings suggest that digital self-help interventions (both unguided and guided) may represent scalable interventions for teens with or at high risk for EDs, with coaching possibly augmenting outcomes for some subgroups.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.