An interventional study of PrevED MR Intervention in Eating Disorders and Emotion Dysregulation, sponsored by Universitat Internacional de Catalunya. Recruiting at 1 site in Spain. Open to participants aged 13 Years to 35 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-25.
Sponsored by Universitat Internacional de Catalunya · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effects of PrevED MR, a group-based preventive intervention for adolescents and young adults at risk of developing eating disorders. PrevED MR is based on dialectical behavior therapy skills and uses mixed reality and virtual reality activities to support emotion regulation, mindfulness, distress tolerance, and body-related acceptance.
Participants will be randomly assigned to either the PrevED MR intervention group or a waiting-list control group. The intervention will be delivered over 6 weeks, with two sessions per week, for a total of 12 sessions. Assessments will be conducted at baseline and after the intervention to examine changes in eating disorder symptoms, body image acceptance, emotion regulation strategies, rumination, usability, sense of presence, cybersickness, satisfaction, and adherence.
Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that often emerge during adolescence and young adulthood. Difficulties in emotion regulation, including rumination, emotional suppression, low emotional acceptance, and limited cognitive flexibility, are relevant processes associated with eating disorder risk and symptom maintenance. Preventive interventions that target emotion regulation skills may help reduce eating disorder risk in young people.
PrevED MR is a mixed reality- and virtual reality-supported preventive intervention designed for adolescents and young adults at risk of developing eating disorders. The intervention is grounded in dialectical behavior therapy skills training and combines psychoeducation, paper-based exercises, group activities, and guided immersive experiences. The program focuses on core skills related to mindfulness, emotion identification, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, acceptance, and non-judgmental body-related exposure.
This study is a pilot randomized controlled trial with two parallel arms: an experimental intervention group and a waiting-list control group. Participants allocated to the experimental group will receive the PrevED MR intervention over 6 weeks, with two sessions per week, for a total of 12 sessions. Sessions will be delivered face-to-face in small groups and supervised by trained mental health professionals. Participants allocated to the waiting-list control group will continue their usual activities during the initial study period and will not receive the intervention before the post-intervention assessment.
The study will recruit Spanish-speaking adolescents and young adults who are at mid-to-high risk of developing eating disorders. Participants will complete baseline and post-intervention assessments. Primary outcomes will focus on eating disorder symptoms and body image acceptance. Secondary outcomes will include emotion regulation strategies, rumination, usability, sense of presence, cybersickness, satisfaction, and adherence. The study will also examine whether intervention effects differ according to age group and gender.
645 studies on the registry are indexed under Feeding and Eating Disorders; 153 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 72 is close to the median of 71 across 452 interventional studies indexed under Feeding and Eating Disorders.
Browse Feeding and Eating Disorders studies →Universitat Internacional de Catalunya is the lead sponsor of 151 studies on the registry; 46 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants assigned to this arm will receive the PrevED MR intervention, a 6-week group-based preventive program for adolescents and young adults at risk of developing eating disorders. The intervention includes 12 face-to-face group sessions delivered twice weekly and combines psychoeducation, paper-based exercises, group activities, and guided mixed/virtual reality experiences based on dialectical behavior therapy skills.
Behavioral: PrevED MR Intervention
Participants assigned to this arm will continue their usual activities during the 6-week study period and will not receive the PrevED MR intervention before the post-intervention assessment. They may be offered access to the intervention after completion of the post-intervention assessment.
PrevED MR is a 6-week group-based preventive intervention for adolescents and young adults at risk of developing eating disorders. The program includes 12 face-to-face group sessions delivered twice weekly and combines psychoeducation, paper-based exercises, group activities, and guided mixed/virtual reality experiences. The intervention is based on dialectical behavior therapy skills and targets mindfulness, emotion identification, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, acceptance, and non-judgmental body-related exposure.
Change in Eating Disorder Symptoms
Eating disorder symptoms will be assessed using the Eating Attitudes Test-26 and selected subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory-3. The Eating Attitudes Test-26 total score includes 26 items scored from 0 to 3, with a total score ranging from 0 to 78; higher scores indicate greater eating disorder symptomatology. The Eating Disorder Inventory-3 Drive for Thinness subscale includes 7 items scored from 0 to 5, with a total score ranging from 0 to 35; higher scores indicate a stronger drive for thinness. The Eating Disorder Inventory-3 Body Dissatisfaction subscale includes 10 items scored from 0 to 5, with a total score ranging from 0 to 50; higher scores indicate greater body dissatisfaction. A reduction in scores from baseline to post-intervention indicates improvement.
Time frame: Baseline and post-intervention, approximately 6 weeks after baseline
Change in Body Image Acceptance
Body image acceptance and body image-related psychological flexibility will be assessed using the Body Image Acceptance and Action Questionnaire. The questionnaire includes 12 items scored from 1 to 7, with a total score ranging from 12 to 84. Higher scores indicate greater body image-related psychological inflexibility and lower body image acceptance. Therefore, a reduction in scores from baseline to post-intervention indicates improvement.
Time frame: Baseline and post-intervention, approximately 6 weeks after baseline
Change in Emotion Regulation Strategies
Emotion regulation strategies will be assessed using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. The questionnaire includes 10 items scored from 1 to 7, with higher item scores indicating greater agreement with each statement. The Cognitive Reappraisal subscale includes 6 items and ranges from 6 to 42; higher scores indicate greater use of cognitive reappraisal. The Expressive Suppression subscale includes 4 items and ranges from 4 to 28; higher scores indicate greater use of expressive suppression. Higher cognitive reappraisal scores are generally interpreted as a more adaptive emotion regulation strategy, whereas higher expressive suppression scores are generally interpreted as a less adaptive emotion regulation strategy.
Time frame: Baseline and post-intervention, approximately 6 weeks after baseline
Change in Rumination and Worry
Rumination and worry-related repetitive negative thinking will be assessed using the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. The questionnaire includes 16 items assessing the tendency to worry, using response options ranging from 1 to 5. The total score ranges from 16 to 80, with higher scores indicating higher levels of worry and repetitive negative thinking. Therefore, a reduction in scores from baseline to post-intervention indicates improvement.
Time frame: Baseline and post-intervention, approximately 6 weeks after baseline
System Usability
The System Usability Scale (SUS) is a widely used 10-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess perceived usability of a system, product, or technology. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree), with scores converted to a 0-100 scale. Higher scores indicate better perceived usability.
Time frame: Post-intervention, approximately 6 weeks after baseline
Cybersickness Symptoms
The Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) is a self-report instrument designed to assess symptoms of motion sickness or discomfort experienced during or after virtual reality exposure. The SSQ consists of 16 items grouped into three subscales: Nausea, Oculomotor, and Disorientation. Participants rate the severity of each symptom on a 4-point Likert scale: 0 (None), 1 (Slight), 2 (Moderate), 3 (Severe). Total and subscale scores are calculated according to standardized formulas, with higher scores indicating greater severity of simulator-induced discomfort.
Time frame: Baseline and post-intervention, approximately 6 weeks after baseline
Plan to share: Yes — Deidentified individual participant data underlying the results reported in the main publication may be made available to qualified researchers upon reasonable request, after publication of the main study results. Data sharing will be subject to approval by the principal investigators and, when applicable, by the relevant ethics committee or institutional data protection requirements. Data will be shared only in anonymized form and in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and Spanish data protection legislation.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Statistical analysis plan, Informed consent form
Time frame: Deidentified individual participant data and supporting information may become available after publication of the main study results and may be available for 5 years.
Access criteria: Data will be available to qualified researchers who submit a methodologically sound research proposal. Requests will be reviewed by the principal investigators. Data sharing will require compliance with applicable ethical, legal, and data protection requirements, and may require a data use agreement.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Feeding and Eating Disorders →
Universitat Internacional de Catalunya →