Teenage girls who are perfectionists can reduce their risk of eating disorder and depression if they follow a ​targeted internet CBT course for a month, Australian research suggests.

Ninety-four healthy, but perfectionist, young women aged between 14 and 19 were recruited to the trial and randomly allocated to one of three groups:

The unguided internet CBT courses involved two sessions per week for four weeks, the Curtin University-led researchers reported in Behaviour Research and Therapy.

Scores on questionnaires for perfectionism, eating disorder symptoms and depression all reduced more in girls following the CBT perfectionism course than for girls in either of the other arms, both immediately post treatment and at six-month follow-up.