The Impact of a Podcast-based Body Image Intervention Among Millennial Women

NCT07113678 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 14467299
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,800
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this three-arm randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the acceptability and efficacy of two podcast-based interventions -- a podcast with an accompanying journal and the same podcast without a journal -- which aim to improve body confidence among millennial-aged women (29-44 years of age) in the United Kingdom. A total of 1800 women in the UK (29-44 years), who are podcast listeners, will be recruited by a research agency. Participants will be randomised to one of three groups: body confidence podcast episode with journal; body confidence podcast episode alone; a non-body confidence-related podcast episode from the same series as the intervention podcast. The research aims are to determine the following:

1. 1.Are the two versions of the intervention (i.e., podcast with and without a journal) effective in improving appearance esteem (primary outcome), internalisation of appearance ideals, self-objectification, and weight esteem among UK-based women (i) 1 day post-intervention and (ii) 1 week post-intervention, compared to a control podcast?
2. 2.Are the two interventions (i.e., podcast with and without a journal) effective in generating immediate change in state body satisfaction and state mood, compared to a control podcast?
3. 3.Are the two versions of the intervention acceptable to women?

Conditions

Body Image

Keywords

Body image; podcast; intervention; women; Randomized controlled trial; millennial women

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in appearance esteem as measured by the Appearance subscale of the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA)

  The Appearance subscale of the BESAA (Mendelson et al., 2001) contains 10 items, which assess self-evaluations of one's overall appearance using a scale of 1 (never) to 5 (always). Six items are reverse scored and scores for each item are averaged with higher scores indicating higher appearance esteem.

  Baseline, post-intervention (1 day), 1-week follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Change in internalisation of appearance ideals as measured by the Internalisation of appearance ideals subscale of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3)

  Baseline; post-intervention (1 day); 1-week follow-up

• Change in self-objectification as measured by the Likert version of the Self-Objectification Questionnaire (LSOQ)

  Baseline; post-intervention (1 day); 1-week follow-up

• Change in weight esteem as measured by the Weight subscale of the BESAA

  Baseline; post-intervention (1 day); 1-week follow-up

• Change in state body satisfaction as measured by a one-item visual analogue scale

  Immediate pre-intervention & post-intervention

• Change in state mood as measured by a one-item visual analogue scale

  Immediate pre-intervention & post-intervention

Other Outcomes (2)

• Total acceptability of the intervention

  Immediately post-intervention

• Total engagement in the intervention

  immediately post-intervention

Study Arms (3)

Body confidence podcast episode with supplementary exercises in a journal (Arm A)

EXPERIMENTAL

A podcast episode that addresses body image related content with an accompanying journal

Behavioral: Body confidence podcast episode and supplementary exercises in a journal

Podcast body confidence episode (Arm B)

EXPERIMENTAL

The same podcast episode used in Arm A, without supplementary exercises.

Behavioral: Body confidence podcast episode

Podcast episode unrelated to body image (Arm C)

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

A podcast episode with no body image content

Behavioral: Non-body image-related podcast episode

Interventions

Body confidence podcast episode and supplementary exercises in a journal BEHAVIORAL

The 52-minute long podcast episode is hosted on the How to Fail podcast featuring a conversation between its host, Elizabeth Day, and the guest, actor and activist, Pamela Anderson ("It wasn't about being pretty, it was about being brave"). The podcast episode is accompanied by supplementary exercises in a journal to reinforce the body confidence messages shared during the episode. The 8-page journal ("Beauty on Your Own Terms") consists of two primary activities. The first activity ("A vision for your future") involves 3 questions, a 3-minute visualisation exercise, and a prompt for written reflection all intended to facilitate "accepting your body as it is, rejecting societal and media pressures that define beauty narrowly, and defining beauty on your own terms." The second activity ("Beauty-on-your-own-terms challenge") involves 4 exercises intended to help women reflect on what they can "change about your routine and habits to start defining beauty on your own terms".

Body confidence podcast episode with supplementary exercises in a journal (Arm A)

Body confidence podcast episode BEHAVIORAL

The podcast episode is hosted on the How to Fail podcast featuring a conversation between its host, Elizabeth Day, and the guest, actor and activist, Pamela Anderson ("It wasn't about being pretty, it was about being brave").

Podcast body confidence episode (Arm B)

Non-body image-related podcast episode BEHAVIORAL

A podcast episode from the same podcast series as the intervention, How to Fail, which contains no body image content and is matched on length and guest similarities. The episode features host Elizabeth Day in conversation with actor and activist Cynthia Nixon ("Being brave is feeling scared and doing it anyway"), which is 47 minutes in length.

Podcast episode unrelated to body image (Arm C)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 29 Years - 44 Years
• Gender Eligibility Details: People who self-identify as a woman are eligible to participate.
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Be fluent in English
• Identify as a woman between 29 and 44 years
• Be based in the UK
• Has a personal device to complete the study

You may not qualify if:

• Never listens to podcasts
• Has listened to part or all of the How To Fail podcast episode featuring Pamela Anderson

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of the West of England: lead
• Unilever R&D: collaborator
• C&R Research, Inc.: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

C+R Research Services, Inc.

Chicago, Illinois, 60601, United States

RECRUITING

Study Officials

• Kirsty Garbett, DPhil

  University of the West of England

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Kirsty Garbett, DPhil

CONTACT

+441173282911; kirsty.garbett@uwe.ac.uk

Nicole Paraskeva, DHealth, CPsychol

CONTACT

+4411732 87657; nicole.paraskeva@uwe.ac.uk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: The datasets given to the statistician will be blinded to the condition.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 6, 2025
• First Posted: August 11, 2025
• Study Start: August 19, 2025
• Primary Completion: October 30, 2025
• Study Completion: November 15, 2025
• Last Updated: August 21, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)