ArticleJMIR mental health2018
Inducing Behavioral Change in Seekers of Pro-Anorexia Content Using Internet Advertisements: Randomized Controlled Trial.
Article in JMIR mental health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03439553 (Estimating the Short-term Effectiveness of Online Advertisements for Improving Health), which is not on this map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Estimating the Short-term Effectiveness of Online Advertisements for Improving Health
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychological Impact of Pro-Anorexia and Pro-Eating Disorder Websites on Adolescent Females: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- The romanticisation of mental health problems in adolescents and its implications: a narrative review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Review
- Stigmatizing Attitudes Across Cybersuicides and Offline Suicides: Content Analysis of Sina Weibo.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Article
- Mind the gap: Exploring differences in suicide literacy between cybersuicide and offline suicide.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Trojan Horse: An Analysis of Targeted Advertising to Reduce Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among YMSM.Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education · 2021Article
- Unique Internet Search Strategies of Individuals With Self-Stated Autism: Quantitative Analysis of Search Engine Users' Investigative Behaviors.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Article
- Vaccine advertising: preach to the converted or to the unaware?NPJ digital medicine · 2021Article
- Predicting eating disorders from Internet activity.The International journal of eating disorders · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe influence of pro-anorexia (pro-ana) websites is debated, with studies indicating both negative and positive effects, as well as significant variation in the effects of different websites for those suffering from eating disorders (EDs) and the general population. Online advertising, known to induce behavioral change both online and in the physical world, has not been used so far to modify the search behavior of people seeking pro-ana content.
objectiveThe objective of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to examine if online advertisements (ads) can change online search behaviors of users who are looking for online pro-ana content.
methodsUsing the Bing Ads system, we conducted an RCT to randomly expose the searchers for pro-ana content to 10 different ads referring people to one of the three websites: the National Eating Disorders Association, the National Institutes of Mental Health, and MyProAna. MyProAna is a pro-ana website that was found in a previous study to be associated with less pathological online behaviors than other pro-ana websites. We followed participants exposed and unexposed to the ads to explore their past and future online searches. The ads were shown 25,554 times and clicked on 217 times.
resultsExposure to the ads was associated with a decrease in searches for pro-ana and self-harm content. Reductions were greatest among those referred to MyProAna (reduction of 34.0% [73/215] and 37.2% [80/215] for pro-ana and self-harm, respectively) compared with users who were referred elsewhere (reduction of 15.47% [410/2650] and 3.21% [85/2650], respectively), and with users who were not shown the ads, who increased their behaviors (increase of 57.12% [6462/11,314] and 4.07% [461/11,314], respectively). In addition, those referred to MyProAna increased their search for treatment, as did control users, who did so to a lesser extent. However, users referred elsewhere decreased their searches for this content.
conclusionsWe found that referring users interested in ED-related content to specific pro-ana communities might lessen their maladaptive online search behavior. This suggests that those who are preoccupied with EDs can be redirected to less pathological online searches through appropriate pathways.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03439553; https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT03439553 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6xNYnxYlw).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.