Prevention of eating disorders: 2024 in review.

Abstract

This review of 20 prevention-related publications in Eating Disorders during 2024 is framed by three models: (1) Mental Health Intervention Spectrum: health promotion ➔ types of prevention ➔ case identification/referral for treatment; (2) the prevention cycle: rationale and theory, shaped by critical reviews ➔ clarifying risk and protective factors ➔ program innovation and feasibility studies ➔ efficacy and effectiveness research ➔ program dissemination; and (3) definitions of and links between eating disorder psychopathology, disordered eating behavior, and eating disorders. Nine articles were in the category of prevention rationale (including screening studies) and gaps/shortcomings in the prevention field; three addressed correlates and putative risk factors for eating pathology; and eight articles involved creation, adaptation, or upscaling of programs: three pilot projects, one efficacy study, and four investigations of effectiveness. Seven implications for prevention improvement are presented. For example, because multidimensional sociocultural factors are of paramount importance to risk for the spectrum of disordered eating, all forms of prevention should be designed, from the outset, to establish and maintain non-hierarchical, participatory collaboration between academic researchers and inclusive groups of stakeholders. In this process, it is essential to include people (including academic researchers) whose voices are typically ignored (e.g. LGBTQ+ people of color, low income and unmarried working mothers, and adolescents of ages 11 through 14).