Web-Based Body Image Intervention for Coaches of Adolescent Girls - Pilot

NCT05316558 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: HAS.21.03.120b
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 97
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

According to the World Health Organization, only 15% of 11-17-year-old girls meet the recommended daily physical movement guidelines (e.g., 60-minutes per day). Despite extensive research highlighting the protective factors associated with sport on both mental and physical health, body image concerns are a key barrier to girls' participation in and enjoyment of sport. Sports-related environments and society more broadly further exacerbate these concerns through harmful gender stereotypes that perpetuate female objectification, discrimination, and harassment. This includes the promotion of unrealistic and sexualized appearances of female athletes, uncomfortable and objectifying uniforms, and appearance and competence-related teasing from male and female peers, as well as coaches. To date, research has predominantly focused on athletes' perceptions of the extent to which coaches perpetuate athletes' body image concerns. However, several recent studies have been conducted exploring the perception of coaches and their role in addressing body image concerns among girls in sport. The findings of these studies indicate that although coaches are often able to identify body image concerns among their athletes, they are apprehensive to explicitly address these issues for fear of making the concerns worse. As such, systemic strategies are required within sport settings that upskill coaches as well as athletes and significant others in the athletes' environment to address body image concerns among adolescent girls in sport. At present, few such programs exist, and limited body image resources are available to coaches, despite coaches perceiving body image education as a personal and professional requirement for working with young people. The current research will test the first online body image program for coaches. The Body Confident Coaching program was co-created with girls and coaches through an international multi-disciplinary partnership between academics, health professionals, industry, and community organizations. Multi-disciplinary partnerships can create a supportive landscape by upskilling athletes and coaches in dealing with body image concerns, which will likely lead to sustained sports participation and biopsychosocial benefits. As such, the aim of the present study is to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of the Body Confident Coaching program. The program consists of five 20-minute modules that coaches complete online. Each session tackles a distinct theme related to body image in the sporting context. Outcomes will be assessed at pre- and post-intervention and include coaches' self-efficacy to tackle athletes' body image concerns (primary outcome), coaches' fat phobia and gender essentialist beliefs (secondary outcomes), and feasibility, acceptability, and adherence (process outcomes). The comparison control arm will be a waitlist control condition. To undertake this project, coaches will be randomized into the intervention group or the control group, with 60 coaches anticipated in each arm. Those in the intervention condition will complete baseline assessments (target outcomes and demographic information), take part in the two-week intervention, and then complete the post-intervention assessments (target outcomes and feasibility and acceptability measures). Those in the waitlist control condition will complete the baseline assessments (target outcomes and demographic information) and a second assessment two weeks later (target outcomes only), after which they will get access to the online intervention. However, their engagement with the intervention will not be monitored or assessed. At completion of the post-intervention survey, all participants will receive a debrief form, outlining the study aims and objectives, and additional resources for body image and eating concerns. Lastly, to compensate participants for their time, coaches will receive an electronic voucher to the value of $25 dollars. The investigators hypothesize that coaches who take part in the Body Confident Coaching intervention will report greater self-efficacy in identifying and tackling body image concerns among their athletes, and lower levels of fat phobia and gender essentialism at post-intervention than coaches who do not take part in the intervention.

Conditions

Intervention; Waitlist Control

Keywords

Body image; Athletes; Girls; Coaches; Web-based; Coach education

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in coaches' self-efficacy in body image (assessed via the Coaches' Self-Efficacy in Body Image Scale)

  The Coaches' Self-Efficacy in Body Image Scale (CSEBIS) assesses coaches' ability to describe, recognize, support, and prevent body image concerns among their athletes. CSEBIS scores range from 0-10 with higher scores on the CSEBIS indicating higher levels of self-efficacy.

  Baseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention (2 weeks later)

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Change in coaches' fat phobia (assessed via the Fat Phobia Scale)

  Baseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention (2 weeks later)

• Change in coaches' gender essentialism (assessed via the Gender Essentialism Scale)

  Baseline, pre-intervention; immediately after the intervention (2 weeks later)

Other Outcomes (2)

• Total acceptability of the intervention (assessed via a self-report questionnaire)

  Immediately after the intervention

• Total intervention adherence (assessed through session completion)

  Immediately after the intervention

Study Arms (2)

Body Confident Coaching

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in the intervention condition will take part in an online program consisting of five modules over two weeks.

Behavioral: Body Confident Coaching

Waitlist control

NO INTERVENTION

Participants will not be explicitly told their study condition, although they will be made aware of the assessment time points and whether they receive the intervention between T1 and T2 (intervention) or after T2 (waitlist control). Following completion of post-intervention assessments (T2), the control condition will participate in the intervention; but, they will not be monitored or assessed.

Interventions

Body Confident Coaching BEHAVIORAL

The Body Confident Coaching program is a five-module online program aimed at upskilling coaches in identifying and tackling body image concerns among girls in sport. Each module will take approximately 20 minutes to complete and consists of educational content, interactive elements (quizzes, checklists, opinion polls, reflective exercises), and additional resources.

Body Confident Coaching

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Current coaches of adolescent girls
• English speaking
• US resident

You may not qualify if:

• Participants under 18 years of age
• Coaches outside of the US
• Coaches who only coach adult women or men/boys

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of the West of England: lead
• Unilever R&D: collaborator
• Nike: collaborator
• Laureus: collaborator
• Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Centre for Appearance Research, University of the West of England

Bristol, BS16 1QY, United Kingdom

Location

Related Publications (8)

• Guthold R, Stevens GA, Riley LM, Bull FC. Global trends in insufficient physical activity among adolescents: a pooled analysis of 298 population-based surveys with 1.6 million participants. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2020 Jan;4(1):23-35. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30323-2. Epub 2019 Nov 21.

  PMID: 31761562 BACKGROUND

• Koulanova, A., Sabiston, C. M., Pila, E., Brunet, J., Sylvester, B., Sandmeyer-Graves, A., & Maginn, D. (2021). Ideas for action: Exploring strategies to address body image concerns for adolescent girls involved in sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 56, 102017.

  BACKGROUND

• Neumark-Sztainer D, MacLehose RF, Watts AW, Pacanowski CR, Eisenberg ME. Yoga and body image: Findings from a large population-based study of young adults. Body Image. 2018 Mar;24:69-75. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.12.003. Epub 2017 Dec 27.

  PMID: 29288970 BACKGROUND

• Sabiston, C., Pila, E., Vani, M., & Thogersen-Ntoumani, C. (2019). Body image, physical activity, and sport: A scoping review. Psychology Of Sport And Exercise, 42, 48-57. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.12.010

  BACKGROUND

• Sabiston CM, Pila E, Crocker PRE, Mack DE, Wilson PM, Brunet J, Kowalski KC. Changes in body-related self-conscious emotions over time among youth female athletes. Body Image. 2020 Mar;32:24-33. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.11.001. Epub 2019 Nov 14.

  PMID: 31734408 BACKGROUND

• Slater A, Tiggemann M. Gender differences in adolescent sport participation, teasing, self-objectification and body image concerns. J Adolesc. 2011 Jun;34(3):455-63. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.06.007. Epub 2010 Jul 31.

  PMID: 20643477 BACKGROUND

• Vani MF, Pila E, Willson E, Sabiston CM. Body-related embarrassment: The overlooked self-conscious emotion. Body Image. 2020 Mar;32:14-23. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.10.007. Epub 2019 Nov 13.

  PMID: 31733410 BACKGROUND

• Schneider, J., Matheson, E. L., Tinoco, A., Gentili, C., White, P., Boucher, C., Silva-Breen, H., Goorevich, A., Diedrichs, P.C., & LaVoi, N. M. (2023). Body Confident Coaching: A pilot randomized controlled trial evaluating the acceptability of a web-based body image intervention for coaches of adolescent girls. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2023.2212023

  RESULT

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: TRIPLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 18, 2022
• First Posted: April 7, 2022
• Study Start: May 1, 2022
• Primary Completion: September 1, 2022
• Study Completion: September 1, 2022
• Last Updated: May 24, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

GB (1)