Effectiveness of a Structured Psychoeducational Intervention on Knowledge Regarding Anorexia Nervosa Among Adolescent Girls: A Quasi-Experimental Study in Selected High Schools, Mangaluru

Abstract

“An eating disorder is a mental condition characterized by unhealthy eating patterns that harm a person's physical or psychological well-being. They involve binge eating disorder, in which individuals consume large amounts of food in a short time, and anorexia nervosa, where people eat very little, leading to a significantly low body weight. In today's society, women often desire to be slim. The upper class and the so-called globe-trotting individuals of the world both spread and succumb to the obsession of being thin. Adolescence is a time filled with numerous psychological challenges. A greater number of girls experience common psychological issues such as anxiety, sleep disturbances, and eating disorders. Research indicates that anorexia nervosa is the most frequently encountered psychological disorder in adolescents. The goal of this research is to evaluate understanding about the subject of anorexia nervosa. The current study aimed to evaluate the current level of knowledge about anorexia nervosa, to determine the effectiveness of a structured psychoeducational intervention, and to identify the association between knowledge scores about anorexia nervosa among adolescent girls and their selected demographic variables. The study employed a quasi-experimental research design, and a disproportionate stratified random sampling method was utilized to select the sample. The information was gathered from 60 teenage girls through a structured knowledge questionnaire. A structured psychoeducational intervention was implemented, and a post-test was given seven days later using the same structured knowledge questionnaire to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. The findings showed that the average knowledge score, expressed as a percentage, was 26.08% in the pre-test and increased to 78.01% in the post-test. The percentage increase in knowledge scores was found to be 50.44%. The statistical paired 't' test showed that the improvement in the average percentage knowledge score was statistically significant at the 0.05 level across all aspects examined. A significant association was found between pre-test knowledge scores and residence at the 0.05 level (P < 0.05). The research results indicated that Structured Psychoeducational Intervention is a successful teaching approach for enhancing adolescent girls' understanding of Anorexia Nervosa.”