Moms on Media Study

NCT05181280 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 054798
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 132
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This research will explore the impact of digital technology, specifically social media, on the health behaviours of mothers in the postpartum period by conducting an experimental study to test the effect of social media messaging on body dissatisfaction, eating attitudes and behaviours, and physical activity intentions and behaviours among postpartum mothers. The primary objective is to determine the extent to which body image messaging targeting mothers, compared with the control, result in feelings of body dissatisfaction and poorer eating attitudes and behaviours, and increased physical activity intention immediately following the 5-day exposure period. The secondary objective is to determine the sustained impact of the body image messaging compared to control at 1-month follow-up.

Conditions

Health Behavior

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in Body Dissatisfaction at 5 days and 1 month

  Body dissatisfaction will be measured using the body satisfaction subscale from the Multidimensional Eating Disorder Inventory, a 9-item subscale that measures satisfaction with physical appearance. This subscale includes questions such as "I think my stomach is too big". This subscale has been validated among a diverse population of women, with good internal consistency. Response options are "never", "rarely", "sometimes", "often", "usually", and "always", and are coded as 1-6 respectively. Higher scores indicate higher levels of body dissatisfaction.

  5 days and 1 month

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Change in Eating Attitude at 5 days and 1 month

  5 days and 1 month

• Change in Eating Behaviour at 5 days and 1 month

  5 days and 1 month

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Treatment: Standardized body image messaging targeting mothers. Following a similar model that has been used in previous studies testing the effect of traditional media exposure on body image and disordered eating behaviour, participants randomized to the treatment condition will have 1 exposure session per day over 5 days. Each exposure session will consist of 15 social media body message posts. Body image messaging targeting mothers will consist of mothers with "ideal" postpartum bodies and captions trending over the past 24 months.

Other: Intervention Group

Control

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Control: Standardized infant feeding tips messaging. Participants randomized to the control will have 1 exposure session/day over 5 days. Each exposure will consist of 15 social media posts on infant feeding tips.

Other: Control Group

Interventions

Intervention Group OTHER

Exposure session will consist of 15 social media "ideal body" message posts.

Intervention

Control Group OTHER

Exposure will consist of 15 social media posts on infant feeding tips.

Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Can respond to surveys in English
• Has a child 0-6 months old
• Owns a smartphone

You may not qualify if:

• History of anxiety or depression
• Taking pharmacological treatments for anxiety or depression

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Guelph: lead
• Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research (CFDR): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Guelph

Guelph, Ontario, N1H 2W1, Canada

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Tang L, Tiggemann M, Haines J. #Fitmom: an experimental investigation of the effect of social media on body dissatisfaction and eating and physical activity intentions, attitudes, and behaviours among postpartum mothers. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2022 Oct 12;22(1):766. doi: 10.1186/s12884-022-05089-w.

  PMID: 36224523 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Health Behavior

Interventions

Control Groups

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Epidemiologic Research Design; Epidemiologic Methods; Investigative Techniques; Research Design; Methods

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Model Details: Participants are randomized into either the intervention group (body image messaging) or control group (infant feeding messaging).

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 8, 2021
• First Posted: January 6, 2022
• Study Start: November 15, 2020
• Primary Completion: January 22, 2021
• Study Completion: February 21, 2021
• Last Updated: May 9, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-05

Locations

CA (1)