Effects of Basic Body Awareness Therapy on Pain, Work Stress, Quality of Life, and Eating Attitudes in Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

NCT07736599 | Active Not Recruiting DMC

• 1 other identifier: Amasya Uni-BAP
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 20
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study will examine the effects of a 10-week Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) program on pain, work-related stress, quality of life, and eating attitudes in healthy adults working at a university. Twenty participants aged 25-55 will be randomly assigned to either an intervention group, receiving one BBAT group session per week for 12 weeks, or a control group, receiving no intervention during the same period. Participants in both groups will be assessed before and after the 10-week period using validated scales: the Visual Analog Scale and McGill Pain Questionnaire for pain, the Job Content Questionnaire (work stress scale) for work-related stress, the Short Form-36 for quality of life, and the Eating Attitudes Test-26 for eating attitudes. In addition, participants in the intervention group will keep a session-by-session exercise diary, and their written reflections will be used to provide qualitative insight into how they experienced the intervention, complementing the quantitative results. This combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection is intended to provide both statistical evidence and a richer understanding of participants' experiences with the therapy.

Conditions

Healthy Volunteers

Keywords

Basic Body Awareness Therapy; Body Awareness; Pain; Work Stress; Quality of Life; Eating Attitudes; Mixed Methods; Randomized Controlled Trial

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in Pain Intensity (Visual Analog Scale)

  Pain intensity will be assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), a 0-10 self-reported scale, with higher scores indicating greater pain intensity.

  Baseline and Week 10

• Change in Pain Quality and Intensity (Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire)

  Pain will be assessed using the Turkish-validated Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ), which evaluates the sensory and affective dimensions of pain as well as pain intensity.

  Baseline and Week 10

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Change in Work-Related Stress (Job Content Questionnaire / Job Stress Scale)

  Baseline and Week 10

• Change in Health-Related Quality of Life (Short Form-36)

  Baseline and Week 10

• Change in Eating Attitudes (Eating Attitudes Test-26)

  Baseline and Week 10

Other Outcomes (1)

• Qualitative Themes from Exercise Diary Entries (Intervention Group Only)

  Collected weekly throughout the 10-week intervention period

Study Arms (2)

Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT)

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in this arm will receive one 60-minute Basic Body Awareness Therapy group session per week for 10 weeks, conducted in a university exercise room. Sessions include supine awareness and breath-focused exercises, midline awareness, symmetric/asymmetric/star-shaped stretches, breath-coordinated movement, seated balance exercises, standing weight-shift and rhythmic movement exercises, rotational coordination, wave-like movement, pushing exercises, walking exercises, "cat walk" massage, and closing meditation. Participants will complete a structured exercise diary after each session.

Behavioral: Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Participants in this arm will not receive any intervention during the 12-week study period. They will undergo the same baseline and post-study (week 12) assessments as the intervention group, without participating in BBAT sessions or keeping an exercise diary.

Interventions

Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) BEHAVIORAL

A 10-week, once-weekly, 60-minute group-based movement awareness therapy program based on Basic Body Awareness Therapy principles. Sessions incorporate lying, sitting, standing, and walking exercises focused on balance, free breathing, coordination, and body awareness, delivered in a structured sequence across the 10-week period. Participants record their subjective experience of each session in a structured exercise diary.

Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 25 Years - 55 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Employed as academic staff at Amasya University
• Not currently participating in a regular structured exercise program (e.g., yoga, pilates)

You may not qualify if:

• Diagnosed chronic illness
• Regular use of medication
• Missing two consecutive weekly sessions during the study (applies to -intervention group; results in withdrawal)
• Beginning another treatment program during the study period

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hitit University: lead
• Amasya University: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Amasya University

Amasya, Amasya, 05100, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

Related Publications (8)

• Garner DM, Olmsted MP, Bohr Y, Garfinkel PE. The eating attitudes test: psychometric features and clinical correlates. Psychol Med. 1982 Nov;12(4):871-8. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700049163.

  PMID: 6961471 BACKGROUND

• Ergüney-Okumuş, F. E., & Sertel-Berk, H. Ö. (2019). Yeme Tutum Testi kısa formunun (YTT-26) Üniversite örnekleminde Türkçeye uyarlanması ve psikometrik özelliklerinin değerlendirilmesi. Psikoloji Çalışmaları, 40(1), 57-78.

  BACKGROUND

• Demiral, Y., Ünal, B., Kılıç, B., Soysal, A., Bilgin, A. C., Uçku, R. ve Theorell, T. (2007). İş Stresi Ölçeğinin İzmir Konak Belediyesi'nde çalışan erkek işçilerde geçerlik ve güvenilirliğinin incelenmesi. Toplum Hekimliği Bülteni, 26(1), 11-18.

  BACKGROUND

• Olsen AL, Skjaerven LH. Patients suffering from rheumatic disease describing own experiences from participating in Basic Body Awareness Group Therapy: A qualitative pilot study. Physiother Theory Pract. 2016;32(2):98-106. doi: 10.3109/09593985.2015.1115568. Epub 2016 Feb 10.

  PMID: 26863582 BACKGROUND

• Dropsy J. 1998. Human expression: The coordination of mind and body quality of movement- The art and health. In: Skjaerven LH, editor. Lectures on philosophy, theory and practical implications to basic body awareness therapy. Bergen (Norway): Bergen University College; p. 8-20.

  BACKGROUND

• Catalan-Matamoros D, Helvik-Skjaerven L, Labajos-Manzanares MT, Martinez-de-Salazar-Arboleas A, Sanchez-Guerrero E. A pilot study on the effect of Basic Body Awareness Therapy in patients with eating disorders: a randomized controlled trial. Clin Rehabil. 2011 Jul;25(7):617-26. doi: 10.1177/0269215510394223. Epub 2011 Mar 14.

  PMID: 21402650 BACKGROUND

• Bravo C, Hernandez-Garcia D, Trinidad-Fernandez M, Badia G, Sole S, Serrano J. Movement Awareness Therapies in Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nurs Health Sci. 2024 Dec;26(4):e13181. doi: 10.1111/nhs.13181.

  PMID: 39438086 BACKGROUND

• Albertsen MN, Natvik E, Raheim M. Patients' experiences from basic body awareness therapy in the treatment of binge eating disorder -movement toward health: a phenomenological study. J Eat Disord. 2019 Oct 21;7:36. doi: 10.1186/s40337-019-0264-0. eCollection 2019.

  PMID: 31641506 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pain; Occupational Stress

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Occupational Diseases; Stress, Psychological; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Due to the nature of the intervention (a group-based movement therapy), participants and the person delivering the BBAT sessions cannot be blinded to group assignment. However, the researcher(s) responsible for administering and scoring the outcome measures (VAS, McGill Pain Questionnaire, SF-36, Job Content Questionnaire, EAT-26) and analyzing the exercise diary/qualitative data will be blinded to group allocation where feasible, to reduce assessment bias.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assist. Prof.

Model Details: Participants will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to one of two parallel groups: an intervention group receiving a 10-week Basic Body Awareness Therapy program (one 60-minute group session per week), or a no-intervention control group receiving no treatment during the same period. Both groups will be assessed using validated quantitative instruments (pain, work stress, quality of life, and eating attitudes scales) at baseline and after the 10-week period. In addition, participants in the intervention group will complete a structured exercise diary after each session, providing qualitative data that will be analyzed to complement and contextualize the quantitative findings, consistent with a mixed-methods research design.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 24, 2026
• First Posted: July 30, 2026
• Study Start: July 1, 2025
• Primary Completion: June 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2026
• Last Updated: July 30, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TU (1)