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Strong Minds: A Digital Intervention Targeting Body Image and Psychological Well-being Among Adolescent Male Fitness Club Members (Strong Minds)

25 agosto 2026 aggiornato da: Christina Gjestvang, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences

Strong Minds: A Digital Intervention Targeting Body Image and Psychological Well-Being Among Adolescent Male Fitness Club Members

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether a digital intervention can improve body image and psychological well-being among adolescent boys who attend fitness clubs. Fitness club environments and social media often promote appearance ideals related to muscularity and leanness, which may contribute to body appearance pressure, body dissatisfaction, and psychological distress among boys.

In this cluster-randomized controlled trial, approximately 260 boys aged 15 to 18 years will be recruited from fitness clubs in Oslo, Norway. Participants from fitness clubs assigned to the intervention group will receive access to a 12-week website-based program consisting of four interactive modules focusing on body image, psychological well-being, critical social media literacy, and attitudes toward food and sports supplements. Participants in the control group will continue their usual activities.

The study will examine whether the intervention reduces internalization of appearance ideals and body appearance pressure and improves body appreciation, health-related quality of life, psychological well-being, social media-related behaviors, and attitudes toward food and sports supplements. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and at a 6-month follow-up.

Panoramica dello studio

Stato

Non ancora reclutamento

Condizioni

Intervento / Trattamento

Descrizione dettagliata

The prevalence of body image concerns among adolescent boys has increased in recent years, accompanied by growing internalization of appearance ideals emphasizing muscularity, leanness, and physical performance. Fitness clubs represent an important social and exercise arena for adolescent boys and may contribute both positively and negatively to psychological well-being. While regular physical activity is associated with health benefits, fitness club environments often expose young males to appearance-focused norms, body comparisons, and social influences reinforced through social media and commercial fitness culture. These factors may increase body appearance pressure, body dissatisfaction, unhealthy attitudes toward food and supplements, and vulnerability to psychological distress. Despite the increasing participation of adolescent boys in fitness clubs, few evidence-based interventions have been developed for this population.

The Strong Minds study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a digital intervention designed to promote positive body image and psychological well-being among adolescent male fitness club members. The intervention targets body image-related constructs, social media literacy, psychological well-being, and attitudes related to food and sports supplements. The study further seeks to examine mechanisms through which the intervention may influence outcomes, including body appreciation and social media-related processes.

The study will be conducted as a cluster-randomized controlled trial involving fitness clubs in Oslo, Norway. Fitness clubs will serve as the unit of randomization and will be allocated to either an intervention condition or a usual-routine control condition. Approximately 260 participants will be recruited. Data collection will occur at baseline, immediately following the intervention period, and six months after completion of the intervention.

Participants assigned to the intervention group will receive access to a website-based program delivered over 12 weeks. The intervention consists of four modules released at three-week intervals. To maximize engagement and feasibility, the intervention has been designed as a brief and interactive digital experience requiring approximately 75 minutes of total participation. Participants in the control group will continue their usual activities and will receive access to the intervention after study completion.

The intervention content has been developed using evidence-based approaches from body image prevention research, social media literacy interventions, positive psychology, embodiment theory, and sociocultural models of body image development. The website uses an interactive narrative format centered on realistic situations encountered by adolescent boys in fitness club settings. Through short episodes, quizzes, reflection exercises, and individualized feedback, participants are encouraged to critically evaluate appearance ideals, social media messages, body-related pressures, and health information encountered in everyday life. The intervention addresses four core themes: body image, psychological well-being, critical social media literacy, and attitudes toward food and sports supplements.

To enhance relevance, usability, and participant engagement, the intervention will be co-created with a Collaborative Competence Group consisting of young males with lived experience of body image concerns and/or disordered eating related to gym participation. User involvement will contribute to the development of content, design, language, functionality, and overall user experience.

Data will be collected through online questionnaires assessing body image-related constructs, body appreciation, health-related quality of life, psychological distress, social media use and appearance comparison, food-related attitudes, attitudes toward sports supplements, exercise habits, and demographic characteristics. Intervention adherence will be monitored through website analytics, including module completion and login frequency.

The study is funded by the Dam Foundation through ROS (Counselling and Support for Eating Disorders). Ethical approval procedures have been completed in accordance with Norwegian regulations, and all participants will provide informed consent before participation. The findings from the Strong Minds study will contribute to knowledge regarding scalable and accessible strategies for promoting positive body image and psychological well-being among adolescent boys in fitness club environments.

Tipo di studio

Interventistico

Iscrizione (Stimato)

260

Fase

  • Non applicabile

Criteri di partecipazione

I ricercatori cercano persone che corrispondano a una certa descrizione, chiamata criteri di ammissibilità. Alcuni esempi di questi criteri sono le condizioni generali di salute di una persona o trattamenti precedenti.

Criteri di ammissibilità

Età idonea allo studio

  • Bambino
  • Adulto

Accetta volontari sani

Sì

Descrizione

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Cisgender boy
  • Aged 15 to 18 years
  • Current member of a fitness club
  • Attends the fitness club at least once per week
  • Able to read and understand Norwegian
  • Provides informed consent (parental/guardian consent required for participants younger than 16 years)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Does not meet one or more of the inclusion criteria
  • Not able to provide informed consent
  • Previously enrolled in the study

Piano di studio

Questa sezione fornisce i dettagli del piano di studio, compreso il modo in cui lo studio è progettato e ciò che lo studio sta misurando.

Come è strutturato lo studio?

Dettagli di progettazione

  • Scopo principale: Prevenzione
  • Assegnazione: Randomizzato
  • Modello interventistico: Assegnazione parallela
  • Mascheramento: Nessuno (etichetta aperta)

Armi e interventi

Gruppo di partecipanti / Arm
Intervento / Trattamento
Sperimentale: Digital intervention
Participants assigned to the intervention arm will receive access to a website, a 12-week digital intervention designed to promote positive body image and psychological well-being among adolescent male fitness club members. The intervention consists of four interactive modules released every three weeks and addresses body image, psychological well-being, critical social media literacy, and attitudes toward food and sports supplements. Modules include brief narrative-based content, quizzes, personalized feedback, and reflection exercises. Total engagement time is approximately 75 minutes across the 12-week intervention period.
Participants assigned to the intervention arm will receive access to the Strong Minds website, a 12-week digital intervention designed to promote positive body image and psychological well-being among adolescent male fitness club members. The intervention consists of four interactive modules released every three weeks and addresses body image, psychological well-being, critical social media literacy, and attitudes toward food and sports supplements. Modules include brief narrative-based content, quizzes, personalized feedback, and reflection exercises. Total engagement time is approximately 75 minutes across the 12-week intervention period.
Nessun intervento: Control group
Participants assigned to the control condition will continue their regular exercise and daily activities without receiving the Strong Minds intervention during the 12-week trial period. Outcome assessments will be conducted at the same time points as in the intervention group (baseline, post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up). Access to the digital intervention will be provided after completion of the randomized controlled trial.

Cosa sta misurando lo studio?

Misure di risultato primarie

Misura del risultato
Misura Descrizione
Lasso di tempo
Internalization
Lasso di tempo: Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Internalization of appearance ideals (Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 [SATAQ-4]). This outcome assesses the extent to which participants adopt societal appearance ideals related to muscularity, leanness, and low body fat as personal standards for evaluating their own appearance. Internalization is measured using the relevant SATAQ-4 subscales. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (definitely disagree) to 5 (definitely agree), with higher scores indicating greater internalization of societal appearance ideals. The outcome will be assessed at baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Body appearance pressure
Lasso di tempo: Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Body appearance pressure measured using the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 Revised (SATAQ-4R). Scores range from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating greater perceived appearance-related pressure from media and sociocultural influences.
Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.

Misure di risultato secondarie

Misura del risultato
Misura Descrizione
Lasso di tempo
Body appreciation
Lasso di tempo: Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
The extent to which participants respect, accept, and value their bodies and maintain a positive body image despite societal appearance pressures.
Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Social Media use
Lasso di tempo: Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Self-reported social media use, including platform(s) used, frequency of use per day, time spent on social media (hours/day), exposure to appearance-related content, appearance comparison, selfie posting, and motivations for use.
Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
General health-related quality of life.
Lasso di tempo: Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Self-reported health-related quality of life measured using the KIDSCREEN-10 questionnaire. Higher scores indicate better quality of life and well-being.
Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Psychological distress
Lasso di tempo: Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Psychological distress assessed using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-10 (HSCL-10). The HSCL-10 is a self-report measure of symptoms of anxiety and depression. The total score is calculated as the mean of the 10 items, with response options ranging from 1 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). Scores range from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating greater psychological distress and a worse outcome.
Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Food-related attitudes.
Lasso di tempo: Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Food-related attitudes and behaviors assessed using the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26). The EAT-26 is a self-report measure of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors associated with eating-related concerns and disordered eating. The total score ranges from 0 to 78, with higher scores indicating more problematic eating attitudes and behaviors and a worse outcome. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Attitudes towards sports supplements
Lasso di tempo: Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.
Questions regarding anabolic steroids, testosterone preparations, growth hormone, ephedrine, and Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMS)) [GU33.1]based on Ungdata, an annual Norwegian data collection scheme.
Baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks), and 6-month follow-up.

Collaboratori e investigatori

Qui è dove troverai le persone e le organizzazioni coinvolte in questo studio.

Sponsor

Studiare le date dei record

Queste date tengono traccia dell'avanzamento della registrazione dello studio e dell'invio dei risultati di sintesi a ClinicalTrials.gov. I record degli studi e i risultati riportati vengono esaminati dalla National Library of Medicine (NLM) per assicurarsi che soddisfino specifici standard di controllo della qualità prima di essere pubblicati sul sito Web pubblico.

Studia le date principali

Inizio studio (Stimato)

1 gennaio 2028

Completamento primario (Stimato)

1 settembre 2028

Completamento dello studio (Stimato)

1 settembre 2028

Date di iscrizione allo studio

Primo inviato

18 agosto 2026

Primo inviato che soddisfa i criteri di controllo qualità

25 agosto 2026

Primo Inserito (Effettivo)

27 agosto 2026

Aggiornamenti dei record di studio

Ultimo aggiornamento pubblicato (Effettivo)

27 agosto 2026

Ultimo aggiornamento inviato che soddisfa i criteri QC

25 agosto 2026

Ultimo verificato

1 agosto 2026

Maggiori informazioni

Termini relativi a questo studio

Termini MeSH pertinenti aggiuntivi

Altri numeri di identificazione dello studio

  • Strong Minds
  • #SDAM_FOR999270 (Altro numero di sovvenzione/finanziamento: The Dam Foundation)

Piano per i dati dei singoli partecipanti (IPD)

Hai intenzione di condividere i dati dei singoli partecipanti (IPD)?

SÌ

Descrizione del piano IPD

Individual participant data that have been de-identified, including demographic characteristics, outcome measures, and questionnaire data underlying the published results, will be made available to qualified researchers upon reasonable request following publication of the main study findings. Data sharing will be conducted in accordance with applicable ethical approvals, data protection regulations, and FAIR data principles.

Periodo di condivisione IPD

Beginning 6 months after publication of the primary study results with no predefined end date.

Criteri di accesso alla condivisione IPD

Access to de-identified individual participant data will be provided to qualified researchers upon reasonable request. Researchers must submit a methodologically sound research proposal and may be required to sign a data access agreement. Requests will be reviewed by the study investigators to ensure compliance with ethical approvals, applicable data protection regulations, and institutional policies. Data will be shared only for research purposes consistent with the objectives of the original study.

Tipo di informazioni di supporto alla condivisione IPD

  • STUDIO_PROTOCOLLO
  • LINFA

Informazioni su farmaci e dispositivi, documenti di studio

Studia un prodotto farmaceutico regolamentato dalla FDA degli Stati Uniti

No

Studia un dispositivo regolamentato dalla FDA degli Stati Uniti

No

Queste informazioni sono state recuperate direttamente dal sito web clinicaltrials.gov senza alcuna modifica. In caso di richieste di modifica, rimozione o aggiornamento dei dettagli dello studio, contattare register@clinicaltrials.gov. Non appena verrà implementata una modifica su clinicaltrials.gov, questa verrà aggiornata automaticamente anche sul nostro sito web .