AzTrials
AzTrials

Body-dissatisfactionNCT03219814

Cognitive Dissonance and Attentional Biases Related to Body Dissatisfaction

A study testing The Body Project and Mediapsychoeducation in people with Body-dissatisfaction, run by University of Calgary at 1 site in Canada.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

The purpose of this study is to assess a cognitive dissonance-based eating disorder prevention intervention program on its ability to reduce attentional biases in body-dissatisfied women. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Any ageHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Body-dissatisfaction
What is being tested?
The Body Project and Mediapsychoeducation
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
228 participants
Where
1 siteCanada
Study dates
19 May 2017to 30 Apr 2018
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages Any age
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Child, Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • body-dissatisfied for three conditions (cognitive dissonance, media psychoeducation, waitlist control)
  • body-satisfied for one condition (body-satisfied assessment only condition)
  • female-identified for all conditions

Who cannot join

  • male-identified

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Canada1 site
  • University of Calgary

    Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4

Other trials in Canada

About this study

Official title: Does a Cognitive Dissonance-Based Eating Disorder Prevention Intervention Reduce Attentional Biases in Body-Dissatisfied Women?

The purpose of this study is to assess a cognitive dissonance-based eating disorder prevention intervention program on its ability to reduce attentional biases in body-dissatisfied women.

Read the detailed description

Eating disorders are some of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders affecting women in Westernized cultures, and are associated with a range of medical complications; in severe cases, eating disorders can lead to death. Unfortunately, a large proportion of individuals with eating disorders do not receive treatment, and of those who do receive treatment, only approximately 40-50% of clients are symptom-free at the end of treatment. In addition to limited efficacy, existing treatments can be time-consuming and costly. From both public health and humanitarian perspectives it is best to prevent eating disorders prior to their emergence.

This study will use a randomized, controlled design to investigate the effects of a cognitive dissonance-based intervention on attentional biases for weight words in body-dissatisfied women. Cognitive dissonance is thought to occur when there is a discrepancy between one's beliefs or attitudes, and behaviour. The experience of dissonance is thought to create discomfort, and resultantly individuals change their beliefs to be in line with their behaviours. Thus, the core tenet of cognitive dissonance-based interventions is the concept of engaging participants in counter-attitudinal behaviours (e.g., speaking out against the thin ideal) to enact change through cognitive dissonance. This cognitive dissonance-based intervention (The Body Project) targets body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, and eating disorder symptoms.

Almost all research on the Body Project has assessed its efficacy via self-report, however, this study will use an eye-tracker to measure the gaze. Attentional biases are less susceptible to self-reporting biases than traditional pencil-and-paper questionnaires and so are a more reliable measure of cognitive processing The participants in this study will be placed into one of three different conditions: cognitive dissonance (CD), media psychoeducation (MP), or waitlist control (WL), and a similar number of women will be allocated to the body-satisfied (BS) condition. Both the CD and MP intervention groups will consist of two approximately 2-hour sessions scheduled one week apart, as well as a 30-minute online follow-up questionnaire 1 month after the second intervention/assessment session. Individuals allocated to WL will begin to receive the intervention approximately 5 weeks after the CD and MP groups (after their 1 month follow-up survey). The BS group will consist of two approximately 35- to 40-minute assessment-only sessions scheduled one week apart.

All groups of participants will full out several self-report questionnaire as well as participate in a brief eye-tracking assessment both before and after their allocated intervention group (the BS condition and waitlist control will only complete the questionnaires and eye tracking assessment). Participants will sign up for a group time slot, and the group time slots will be randomly assigned to be given either the CD, and MP, or the WL condition.

Participants will be recruited through the University of Calgary Department of Psychology Research Participation System (RPS) as well as campus community participants recruited through campus advertisements. Potential participants will be pre-screened for the presence of body dissatisfaction (or body satisfaction for the BS assessment only group).

Being tested
The Body Project, Mediapsychoeducation
Keywords
body-image, attention, cognitive dissonance, eating disorder prevention

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • The Body ProjectOther

    The Body Project is a dissonance-based body-acceptance program designed to help high school girls and college-age women resist cultural pressures to conform to the appearance ideal standard of female beauty and reduce their pursuit of unrealistic bodies. The Body Project is supported by more research than any other body image program and has been found to reduce onset of eating disorders.

  • MediapsychoeducationOther

    Mediapsychoeducation is used to educate individuals on psychological issues through the use of various medias, in this study mediapsychoeducation is being used to educate individuals on eating disorders and the thin ideal.

Study groups in NCT03219814
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Cognitive Dissonance InterventionExperimentalParticipants in the Cognitive Dissonance condition will complete tasks from Becker et al.'s (2005) 2-session adaptation of the Body Project. In the intervention groups, participants will be asked to consider the costs of pursuing the thin ideal in verbal, written, and behavioural exercises. Participants will be asked to assume the role as a body activist, and will be given several opportunities to vocalize opposition to the social forces that drive the thin ideal throughout the sessions. The first session will involve exercises and discussions about the thin ideal and the costs associated with pursuing it. They will be given a homework assignment to complete at home over the next week. In the following week's session the participants will engage in a role-play exercise, as well as continuing the discussion on the costs of pursuing the thin ideal.
Receives: Other: The Body Project
Mediapsychoeducation InterventionActive comparatorParticipants in the Mediapsychoeducation condition will complete two sessions of tasks as outlined for Becker et al.'s (2005) media psychoeducation group, which includes no cognitive dissonance tasks. The first session will have the participants discuss the thin ideal and the media's influence on it. They will then watch a 35-minute psychoeducational video on the influence that advertisements have on body image and perpetuating the thin ideal. They will be assigned homework to complete at home during the week between the sessions. The second session will include a discussion surrounding the attainability to the thin ideal, and this discussion will also be expanded to include all forms of media. Participants will then be asked to consider and discuss differences between media images and themselves, as well as whether achieving this "ideal" is realistic, and the costs in trying to achieve this thin ideal. They will then watch a 20-minute video on eating disorders.
Receives: Other: Mediapsychoeducation
Waitlist ControlNo interventionThe participants in the Waitlist condition will be given the Cognitive Dissonance intervention between 5 and 6 weeks after their second assessment-only session (the cognitive dissonance intervention will be offered and scheduled 1 week after their 1-month online follow-up questionnaire).
Body-Satisfied Assessment Only ConditionNo interventionBody-satisfied women will be recruited to engage in the assessment portion of the study only (i.e. they will be given NO intervention but are serving as a control in terms of eye-tracking assessment). Body-satisfied women will be assessed to compare their attention to weight words with body-dissatisfied women's attention to weight words. This comparison will be done with an aim of replicating the findings of Tobin (2015), to ensure that for this particular sample, body-dissatisfied women exhibit stronger attentional biases for weight words than body-satisfied women. Attention to weight words in body-satisfied women will be assessed at two time points, one week apart, to ensure there are no spurious changes in attention in body satisfied women.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Change from baseline attentional bias after completing the intervention/control condition, week 2

    using an EyeLink 1000 eye-tracking system gaze will be tracked for biases to view weight words and images

    Measured: change in attentional bias from baseline recorded at the end of the assigned intervention/control condition (week 2)

Secondary outcomes (14)
  1. Change from baseline body dissatisfaction after completing the intervention/control condition, week 2

    Level of body dissatisfaction will be measured using the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ; Cooper, Taylor, Cooper, \& Fairburn, 1987).

    Measured: change in BSQ score from baseline measured at the end of the assigned intervention/control condition (week 2)

  2. Change from baseline body dissatisfaction at the one-month follow up

    Level of body dissatisfaction will be measured using the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ; Cooper, Taylor, Cooper, \& Fairburn, 1987).

    Measured: change in BSQ score from baseline measured in online follow-up survey administered one month after week 2 of the assigned intervention/control condition

  3. Change from baseline body appreciation after completing the intervention/control condition, week 2

    body appreciation will be assessed using the the Body Appreciation Scale (Tylka \& Wood-Barcalow, 2015).

    Measured: change in Body Appreciation Scale score measured at the end of the assigned intervention/control condition (week 2)

  4. Change from baseline body appreciation at the one-month follow up

    body appreciation will be assessed using the the Body Appreciation Scale (Tylka \& Wood-Barcalow, 2015).

    Measured: change in Body Appreciation Scale score measured in online follow-up survey administered one month after week 2 of the assigned intervention/control condition

  5. Change from baseline thin-ideal internalization after completing the intervention/control condition, week 2

    thin-ideal internalization will be assessed using the internalization subscale of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ; Schaefer et al., 2015)

    Measured: change in SATAQ score measured at the end of the assigned intervention/control condition (week 2)

  6. Change from baseline thin-ideal internalization at the one-month follow up

    thin-ideal internalization will be assessed using the internalization subscale of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ; Schaefer et al., 2015)

    Measured: Change in SATAQ score measured in online follow-up survey administered one month after week 2 of the assigned intervention/control condition

  7. Change from baseline eating pathology after completing the intervention/control condition, week 2

    eating pathology will be assessed using the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q 6.0; Fairburn \& Beglin, 1994)

    Measured: change in EDE-Q score measured at the end of the assigned intervention/control condition (week 2)

  8. Change from baseline eating pathology at the one-month follow up

    eating pathology will be assessed using the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q 6.0; Fairburn \& Beglin, 1994)

    Measured: change in EDE-Q score measured in online follow-up survey administered one month after week 2 of the assigned intervention/control condition

  9. Change from baseline explicit weight stigma after completing the intervention/control condition, week 2

    Explicit weight stigma will be assessed using the Anti-Fat Attitudes Questionnaire (Crandall, 1994)

    Measured: change in Anti-Fat Attitudes Questionnaire score measured at the end of the assigned intervention/control condition (week 2)

  10. Change from baseline explicit weight stigma at the one-month follow up

    Explicit weight stigma will be assessed using the Anti-Fat Attitudes Questionnaire (Crandall, 1994)

    Measured: Change in Anti-Fat Attitudes Questionnaire score measured in online follow-up survey administered one month after week 2 of the assigned intervention/control condition

  11. Change from baseline weight self-stigma after completing the intervention/control condition, week 2

    Weight self-stigma will be assessed using the Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire (Lillis et al., 2010)

    Measured: change in Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire score measured at the end of the assigned intervention/control condition (week 2)

  12. Change from baseline weight self-stigma at the one-month follow up

    Weight self-stigma will be assessed using the Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire (Lillis et al., 2010)

    Measured: change in Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire score measured in online follow-up survey administered one month after week 2 of the assigned intervention/control condition

  13. Change from baseline state body dissatisfaction after completing the intervention/control condition, week 2

    State body dissatisfaction will be assessed using a Visual Analogue Scale that asks participants to rate their current level of body satisfaction/dissatisfaction on a scale from 0 (extremely satisfied with your body) to 100 (extremely dissatisfied with your body)

    Measured: change in Body Dissatisfaction Visual Analogue Scale score measured at the end of the assigned intervention/control condition (week 2)

  14. Change from baseline state body dissatisfaction at the one-month follow up

    State body dissatisfaction will be assessed using a Visual Analogue Scale that asks participants to rate their current level of body satisfaction/dissatisfaction on a scale from 0 (extremely satisfied with your body) to 100 (extremely dissatisfied with your body)

    Measured: change in Body Dissatisfaction Visual Analogue Scale score measured in online follow-up survey administered one month after week 2 of the assigned intervention/control condition

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted18 Jul 2017
  2. Study start19 May 2017
  3. Primary completion28 Mar 2018
  4. Study completion30 Apr 2018

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Double blind
Who is masked
Participant, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
228 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03219814
Sponsor's protocol ID
REB14-1451
Status last verified
Jan 2020
First submitted
11 Jul 2017
Last updated
7 Jan 2020
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Becker, C. B., Smith, L. M., & Ciao, A. C. (2005). Reducing eating disorder risk factors in sorority members: A randomized trial. Behavior Therapy, 36, 245-253. doi:10.1016/S0005-7894(05)80073-5

  • Cooper, P. J., Taylor, M. J., Cooper, Z., & Fairburn, C. G. (1987). The development and validation of the body shape questionnaire. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 6, 485-494. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/617439169

  • Schaefer LM, Burke NL, Thompson JK, Dedrick RF, Heinberg LJ, Calogero RM, Bardone-Cone AM, Higgins MK, Frederick DA, Kelly M, Anderson DA, Schaumberg K, Nerini A, Stefanile C, Dittmar H, Clark E, Adams Z, Macwana S, Klump KL, Vercellone AC, Paxton SJ, Swami V. Development and validation of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 (SATAQ-4). Psychol Assess. 2015 Mar;27(1):54-67. doi: 10.1037/a0037917. Epub 2014 Oct 6.

    PubMed 25285718
  • Tylka TL, Wood-Barcalow NL. The Body Appreciation Scale-2: item refinement and psychometric evaluation. Body Image. 2015 Jan;12:53-67. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.09.006. Epub 2014 Oct 21.

    PubMed 25462882
  • Van Strien, T., Frijters, J. E., Van Staveren, W. A., Defares, P. B., & Deurenberg, P. (1986). The predictive validity of the Dutch restrained eating scale. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 5(4), 747-755. doi:10.1002/1098-108X(198605)5:4<747::AID-EAT2260050413>3.0.CO;2-6

  • Stice, E., Rohde, P., & Shaw, H. (2013). The Body Project: A dissonance-based eating disorder prevention intervention (Updated ed.). Facilitator guide.

  • Fairburn CG, Beglin SJ. Assessment of eating disorders: interview or self-report questionnaire? Int J Eat Disord. 1994 Dec;16(4):363-70.

    PubMed 7866415
  • Crandall CS. Prejudice against fat people: ideology and self-interest. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1994 May;66(5):882-94. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.66.5.882.

    PubMed 8014833
  • Lillis J, Luoma JB, Levin ME, Hayes SC. Measuring weight self-stigma: the weight self-stigma questionnaire. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 May;18(5):971-6. doi: 10.1038/oby.2009.353. Epub 2009 Oct 15.

    PubMed 19834462
  • Tobin LN, Sears CR, von Ranson KM. Two eating disorder preventive interventions reduce attentional biases in body-dissatisfied university women: A cluster randomized controlled trial. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2022 Dec;90(12):911-924. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000768. Epub 2022 Nov 17.

    PubMed 36395030

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing The Body Project and Mediapsychoeducation in people with Body-dissatisfaction, run by University of Calgary at 1 site in Canada.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 7 Jan 2020. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Canada. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Change from baseline attentional bias after completing the intervention/control condition, week 2 (time frame: change in attentional bias from baseline recorded at the end of the assigned intervention/control condition (week 2)). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT03219814, which also lists 10 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 7 Jan 2020.

Free account

Log in to keep searching

You’ve used your 3 free searches. AzTrials is free: log in or create a free account to keep searching clinical trials and save the ones you want to follow.

Create a free accountLog in