Outcomes of a randomised controlled trial of a digital intervention targeting eating disorder symptoms in cisgender sexual minority men

Objective: There is an unmet need for evidence-based and widely accessible interventions designed to treat eating disorders in sexual minority men, given their heightened vulnerability to developing disordered eating. Digital interventions are a promising avenue for eating disorder treatment because of their accessibility and flexibility in delivery. Here, we present a randomised controlled trial of SEED, a 10-week treatment-focussed digital intervention for eating disorders among sexual minority men. Method: Participants (N = 132 sexual minority men) with a sub-clinical or clinical eating disorder were allocated to one of three conditions: (1) a waitlist control (2) a personalised intervention, where participants received personalised content recommendations based on their individual symptom profile, or (3) a default intervention, in which participants received no personalised recommendations. Changes from baseline in eating disorder symptoms were evaluated via clinical interview and self-report at 10-weeks and 6-months post-intervention. Results: Relative to the waitlist control, participants in the personalised intervention condition reported significantly greater decreases in their global, shape concern, and restraint Eating Disorder Examination interview scores at post-intervention (medium-to-large effects). While we did not observe any significant changes in self-reported eating disorder symptoms, our results are tentative as we were underpowered to detect small-to-medium treatment effects at post-intervention, and at 6-month follow-up. Discussion: Our results highlight SEED as a promising digital intervention for treating eating disorders in sexual minority men. Future studies should further explore the utility of digital treatment-based interventions like SEED through well-powered clinical trials.