Guide to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth

GO GIRLS!

(adapted from Giving Our Girls Inspiration and Resources for Lasting Self-esteem)

OVERVIEW

GO GIRLS! is a program that brings junior and senior high school girls together to advocate responsible advertising and positive body images of youth by the media. The program was designed to help participants strengthen their own self-esteem and body image while creating social change by influencing media and retail outlets. The program is open to boys, but because the majority of eating disorders are among girls, the program was designed to focus on girls. This evaluation assesses a shortened version of the approach. Classes of eighth-graders in a private school, both boys and girls, were randomly assigned to receive a media literacy curriculum based on GO GIRLS! or a self-esteem curriculum based on Everyone’s Different. The media literacy treatment was found to have several modest impacts post-treatment and three months later, compared with the control group.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: Adolescent girls

GO GIRLS! is a project started by Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, Inc. The pilot program took place in Seattle in 1998. Retail, advertising, and modeling executives met with the teens to discuss concerns about body image in media. The curriculum taught the students about effective letter writing and presentations. They were featured in various newscasts and newspapers and were able to influence image changes in various retail stores. Students in GO GIRLS! explore body image issues, learn about eating disorder prevention, and participate in an in-depth analysis of advertisers’ and media’s messages on body image. Participants are able to develop their own healthy body image and help others through their communications with media. The program was modified for this study by shortening the number of sessions from nine to five in order to meet the needs of the study school.

This study also included a second treatment group using a self-esteem curriculum based on a nine-lesson program called Everybody’s Different, which was shortened to five lessons for this study. The main topics covered by the Everybody’s Different curriculum include coping with stress, challenging stereotypes in society, and considering how others affect one’s self-concept.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Wade, T. D., Davidson, S., & O'Dea, J. A. (2003). A preliminary controlled evaluation of a school-based media literacy program and self-esteem program for reducing eating disorder risk factors. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 33, 371-383.

Evaluated population: 86 8^th grade students (53 boys and 33 girls) in a private school.

Methods: This study examines the impact of media literacy and self-esteem programs on students’ risk factors for eating disorders. Students were randomly assigned to a no-intervention control group, a shortened version of the GO GIRLS! media literacy program group, or the Everyone’s Different self-esteem program group. These interventions took place during the school day and consisted of five 50-minute sessions. The control group participated in their normally scheduled class for that time. The media literacy program was shortened from nine to five sessions, due to time constraints, and altered to make it more relevant to both boys and girls. The self-esteem program emphasized cooperative, interactive and student-centered learning and focused on the message that everybody is different and to not conform to stereotypes. Students’ eating disorder risk factors (weight concern, shape concern, dietary restriction), body dissatisfaction, and self-esteem were measured via questionnaires at pre- and post-intervention and at a 3-month follow-up.

Results: The interventions had few impacts on self-esteem and eating disorder risk factors. Post-intervention, students in the media literacy group had lower weight concern compared with the control group. At the 3-month follow-up, the media literacy group had a more positive view of their ability to make friends, as opposed to the control group. The authors suggest that the lack of significant impact in the self-esteem group may have been due to lack of consultation on program content between the teacher and researchers for these classes. Also, researchers could not objectively determine differences in teaching styles as they applied to the curriculum. Another limitation in this study is the short period of time allotted, which caused the number of sessions to be reduced from nine to five, the small sample size, and the use of just one school for the evaluation.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

Link to program curriculum: http://cart.nationaleatingdisorders.org/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=16

References

Eating Disorder Awareness and Prevention, Inc. (EDAP) (1999). GO GIRLS!^TM Seattle: EDAP.

O’Dea, J., & Abraham, S. (2000). Improving the body image, eating attitudes and behaviors of young male and female adolescents: A new educational approach that focuses on self-esteem. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 28, 43–57.

Website: http://www.edap.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=296

Website: http://www.goldinc.com/gogirls/index.htm

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: grade 8 / Program age ranges in guide: adolescence

Program components: school-based, community/media campaign

Measured outcomes: social and emotional health, physical health