Nutritional Counseling Based on Self-compassion vs. Diet Approach on Body Dissatisfaction and Disordered Eating

Comparison of Nutritional Counseling Based on Self-compassion vs. Diet Approach on Body Dissatisfaction, Food Restriction, and Disordered Eating in Adult Women

Current evidence has shown that the accepted standard of beauty, where women must be skinny, has increased body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. In order to deal with body dissatisfaction, the practice of restrictive diets - called the diet approach - becomes very often, although it can reinforce disordered eating and has questionable effects on body dissatisfaction. Self-compassion is an approach that proposes a kind and gentle look at body image issues and eating problems, which can be an alternative tool to deal with them. So, this study aims to compare a nutritional approach based on self-compassion techniques x a diet approach on dissatisfaction with body image, food restriction, and disordered eating in women who feel dissatisfied with their bodies.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Body Dissatisfaction; Disordered Eating
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Self-compassion group; Dietary supplement: Diet group

Detailed Description

A randomized clinical trial will be conducted with adult women randomly allocated into two groups - self-compassion (n=38) or diet approach (n=38) - that will follow over eight weeks. Each group will have weekly meetings of 1 hour, working on different subjects related to self-compassion or dietary choices each week, according to each group. The study outcomes are body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and self-compassion levels, measured through validated questionnaires. Data will be analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science for Windows software, and differences between the two groups will be evaluated by the Student's T-test or the Mann-Whitney U test, according to sample distribution. The Chi-square test will analyze the associations between the type of approach and all measured outcomes. Significant differences will be considered when the P value <0.05. As a result, the investigators expect that self-compassion will improve body dissatisfaction and attenuate disordered eating more than the diet approach.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 76
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Alessandra B Ramos; Phone Number: 5551998191636; Email: alessandrabehar@gmail.com
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Carolina G de Souza, PhD; Phone Number: 51992944218; Email: cgsouza@hcpa.edu.br

Study Locations

• Brazil
  • RS
    • Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, 90035-903
      • Recruiting
      • Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre
      • Contact: Carolina G de Souza, PhD; Phone Number: 51992944218; Email: cgsouza@hcpa.edu.br

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• age between 25 and 59 years;
• access to cell phone and communication apps.

Exclusion Criteria:

• diagnosis of depression, mood disorders (anxiety, bipolar, borderline), eating disorders, or a history of suicidal ideation;
• diagnosis of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, kidney disease, cardiovascular or neurological diseases.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Self-compassion group; Group meetings using a self-compassion approach related to body dissatisfaction and eating issues.	Behavioral: Self-compassion group; Weekly meetings using self-compassion techniques to improve body dissatisfaction and eating behavior.
Active Comparator: Diet group; Group meetings using a restricted diet approach related to body dissatisfaction and eating issues.	Dietary supplement: Diet group; Individual diet, with caloric restriction, associated with weekly meetings about eating habits modifications.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Disordered eating	Disordered eating will be measured using The three-factor eating questionnaire - R21 (TFEQ-R21), where three dimensions of eating behavior are evaluated: cognitive restriction, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating. The higher the score obtained, the more dysfunctional the behavior. A rating below 80 points considers that the individual has no dissatisfaction; between 80 and 110, there is mild dissatisfaction; between 111 and 140, moderate; and more than 140, severe dissatisfaction.	Baseline and after 8 weeks.
Body dissatisfaction	Dissatisfaction with body image will be assessed using the Body Shape Questionnaire.(BSQ) to identify concerns about body shape and self-deprecation related to physical shape.It has 34 questions related to body image, labeled from 1 to 6, with 1-never, 2-rarely, 3-Sometimes, 4-Frequently, 5-Very often, and 6-Always. The result is obtained by adding all the scores. The minimum score obtained is 34 points, and the maximum is 204. A rating below 80 points considers that the individual has no dissatisfaction; between 80 and 110, there is mild dissatisfaction; between 111 and 140, moderate dissatisfaction; and more than 140, severe dissatisfaction.	Baseline and after 8 weeks.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Self-compassion	This outcome will be evaluated through the Self-compassion scale, developed to measure self-compassion in three components: self-judgment versus self-kindness, sense of isolation versus common humanity, and overidentification versus mindfulness.The items are grouped into six subscales: Self-kindness (items 5, 12, 19, 23, 26); Self-judgment (items 1, 8, 11, 16, 21); Common Humanity (items 3, 7, 10, 15); Insulation (items 4, 13, 18, 25); Mindfulness (items 9, 14, 17, 22) and Over-identification (items 2, 6, 20, 24). Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Almost never; 5 = Almost always). The total score is obtained by adding the scores for all 21 items. Higher scores mean more self-compassion.	Baseline and after 8 weeks.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Carolina G de Souza, PhD, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 16, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 20, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 19, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 10, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 13, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): October 16, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 23, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 19, 2023
• Last Verified: October 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: diet; self-compassion; body image; eating behaviour
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2022-0634

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No