Evaluating an Social Media Intervention to Reduce Body Dissatisfaction Among Young Indonesian Women

Summary

The researchers will conduct a randomised controlled trial to evaluate a social media-based intervention aimed at reducing body dissatisfaction among young Indonesian women between 15 and 19 years old. The intervention (titled Warna-Warni Waktu) consists of six sequential videos that tell a fictional story of a typical Indonesian young woman. The videos address known risk factors for body dissatisfaction and include evidence-based techniques to mitigate body dissatisfaction. In addition, the intervention encompasses 18 short online activities intended to encourage participants to think critically about the messages learnt in the videos and practice applying the lessons in real life.

The primary aim is to evaluate the short-term (immediate and four-week post) impact of the intervention on young Indonesian women. The primary outcome is trait body dissatisfaction. Secondary outcomes include internalisation of societal appearance ideals, mood, appearance-related life engagement, and skin shade satisfaction.

The second aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of the videos individually on eliciting state-based improvements (i.e., improvements in the moment) in body dissatisfaction and mood. This will be a within-group design, whereby only participants in the intervention condition will complete single-item measures of body dissatisfaction and mood immediately before and after watching each episode. Further exploratory analyses are also planned.

Approximately 1800 young Indonesian women will be recruited for this research project.

The study's hypotheses are as follows:

1. Participants randomised to the intervention condition will experience reduced body dissatisfaction, skin shade dissatisfaction, and internalisation of appearance ideals, as well as improvements in appearance-related life engagement and mood, at post-intervention, and one-month follow-up, relative to the waitlist control condition.
2. Each video in the Warna-Warni Waktu series will elicit immediate state-based improvements in body satisfaction and mood.
3. Greater engagement and adherence in the Warna-Warni Waktu intervention will result in greater reducing in body dissatisfaction, skin shade dissatisfaction, and internalisation of appearance ideals, as well as improvements in appearance-related life engagement, and mood. This analysis will be exploratory in nature, depending on participants' engagement and adherence in the intervention during the trial.

Conditions

• Body Image

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Warna-Warni Waktu

Six videos and eighteen reinforcer activities

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Unilever R&D

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• University of Hawaii

  collaborator OTHER

• Indonesia University

  collaborator OTHER

• University of the West of England

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Kirsty Garbett, MSc · University of the West of England

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

15 Years

Max Age

19 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-08-30

Primary Completion

2021-11-26

Completion

2022-01-26

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations