Refining Novel Culturally Tailored Behavioral Weight Loss Treatment Components for Sexual Minority Women With Obesity

Summary

Obesity disproportionately impacts sexual minority women. Behavioral weight loss programs are the gold standard treatment for mild to moderate obesity. The investigators have developed an online behavioral weight loss program that is effective, low-cost, and highly scalable. However, existing research suggests that tailoring treatment to address 3 well-established weight loss barriers in sexual minority women will be critical for maximizing the relevance and efficacy of behavioral weight loss for this group. The goal of the first phase of this K23 is to develop 3 novel treatment components targeting sexual minority women's weight loss barriers (i.e., minority stress, low social support, and negative body image), to pilot the program in sexual minority women with overweight/obesity, and to conduct individual qualitative interviews to elicit feedback on the intervention's acceptability, cultural relevance, usability, and feasibility that will be used to refine the program. After a pre-piloting phase (consisting of initial content piloting, interviews, and intervention refinement; anticipated n=12), 8 participants will pilot the full 3-month weight loss program and will be randomized to pilot 0-3 novel tailored components (targeting minority stress, negative body image, and social support) over the 3-month period. Participants will complete quantitative and qualitative assessments of intervention acceptability and appropriateness post-treatment and the intervention will be refined.

Conditions

• Obesity

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention

Rx Weight Loss: PRIDE is a fully automated online behavioral obesity treatment that is tailored for sexual minority women and involves viewing 12 online video lessons delivered each week, self-monitoring body weight, calorie intake, and physical activity levels, and receiving personalized automated weekly feedback on progress toward goals.

BEHAVIORAL

Minority Stress Intervention

The Minority Stress Intervention is designed to help sexual minority women cope with stress and stigma (e.g., due to weight, sexual orientation, gender). In this program, participants watch online video lessons that teach cognitive and behavioral strategies for coping with minority stress so that it may have less of an influence on participants' weight and well-being.

BEHAVIORAL

Negative Body Image Intervention

The Negative Body Image Intervention is designed to help participants improve their body image. In this program, participants will watch online video lessons that provide education on queer women's body image and teach cognitive and behavioral strategies for improving your body image (regardless of your weight) to reduce its influence on your health.

BEHAVIORAL

Social Support Intervention

The Social Support Intervention provides online opportunities for participants to receive more social support as they work toward their weight loss goals. Participants receive education on the importance of social support for weight management, they can earn badges for completing program milestones, and they gain access to a private online forum to get support and advice from other participants.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)

  collaborator NIH

• The Miriam Hospital

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-06-01

Primary Completion

2022-06-28

Completion

2022-06-28

Countries

• United States

Study Locations