Clinical trial NCT04253041: Social Media Effects on Lifestyle Satisfaction
Official title: Effects of Exposure to Body Positive and Fitspiration Instagram Content on Undergraduate Women's State Body Satisfaction, State Body Appreciation, and Mood
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Control Group
Social Media
Lead sponsor: Arizona State University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2020-02-05
Enrollment: 98
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 29
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: From magazines to Miss America, the media has consistently contributed to the spread of sociocultural beauty standards for decades. While initial research on the effects of media on body image primarily focused on magazine and television, recent research has shifted towards exploring the effects of social media due to its rapid and constant accessibility. Current research has associated the promulgation of the thin-ideal with bulimia, dieting, supplement use, negative affect, and body dissatisfaction. Literature related to thin-ideal media (thinspiration), decreased body dissatisfaction, and negative mood is robust with a common understanding that thin-ideal media instigates increased appearance comparisons to seemingly unattainable beauty standards. Literature has also suggested that depression and anxiety have increased with the growth of social media and pressure to achieve unattainable beauty. The fit-ideal, often referred to as Fitspiration, was created as an "antidote" to thin-ideal beauty standards. However, research has found that though well intended, fitspiration content continues to promote the thin-ideal and has been associated with similarly detrimental outcomes of body dissatisfaction and negative mood. Over the last decade, body image research has shifted the focus on body disturbance to examining concepts related to positive body image. However, to date there are no known studies examining the impacts of fit-ideal content versus body positive content on women's body appreciation, body satisfaction, and state mood. The purpose of the present study is to experimentally examine the impact of exposure to body positive and fitspiration Instagram content on the body satisfaction, body appreciation, and mood of undergraduate women at Arizona State University. Participants will be 90 female undergraduate students (18-29 years old) currently attending Arizona State University. Participants will be randomly allocated to view either fitspiration, body-positive, or appearance neutral Instagram images. Dependent variables including state body appreciation, state body dissatisfaction, and state mood will be measured using Visual Analogue Scales. Trait thin-ideal internalization and trait social comparison will also be measured as moderators using the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 and the Physical Appearance Comparison Scale-Revised. We hypothesize that viewing body positive content from Instagram will result in greater state body satisfaction, greater state body appreciation, and greater state positive mood compared to participants exposed to fitspiration and appearance neutral content. We also hypothesize that viewing fitspiration content from Instagram will result in greater state body dissatisfaction, decreased state body appreciation, and greater state negative mood compared to participants exposed to body positive and appearance neutral content. Short answer qualitative interview questions will also be included as an exploratory aim of this study where we intend to fill a gap in the literature regarding the specific aspects of each content topic that elicit the observed quantitative outcomes.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Female
* Enrolled as part or full-time undergraduate students at Arizona State University
* 18-29 years old
* Access to computer and internet
* Able to read, speak, and understand English
* Willing to be randomized into one of three treatment groups

Exclusion Criteria:

* History of a clinical diagnosis or treatment for body dysmorphic disorder, disordered eating, anorexia, bulimia or clinical depression
* Pregnant

Primary outcomes:
measure: State Body Satisfaction
timeFrame: Through study completion (1 day with pretest and posttest measures)
measure: State Body Appreciation
timeFrame: Through study completion (1 day with pretest and posttest measures)
measure: State Mood
timeFrame: Through study completion (1 day with pretest and posttest measures)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Trait thin-ideal internalization
timeFrame: Through study completion (1 day with baseline measures only)
measure: Trait Social Coparison
timeFrame: Through study completion (1 day with baseline measures only)
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Tempe
country: United States
facility: Arizona State University
state: Arizona
Study officials:
affiliation: Arizona State University
name: Cheryl Der Ananian, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: