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Felske, Ashley Nicole

University of British Columbia

Lifestyle, developmental, and transitional factors contribute to young adults gaining weight faster than any other age group and at a rate faster than previous generations. Left untreated, overweight and obesity increases the risk for chronic conditions and can reduce the quality and length of life. A weight management approach per 2020 clinical practice guidelines is Small Changes, a cognitive-behavioural healthy lifestyle program that promotes modest (i.e., gradual changes relative to a person’s baseline behavioural levels) and self-selected (i.e., non-prescriptive) diet and physical activity changes. Small Changes has positively impacted psychological and physical health outcomes among difficult-to-treat populations, but has not yet been tested among young adults. This study assessed the acceptability and feasibility of a self-paced, online-delivered, podcast- and community forum-augmented version of Small Changes among young adults. The secondary aims evaluated the impact on weight, symptoms of depression and anxiety, self-compassion, and frequency of weight control strategies. Fifteen modules included cognitive-behavioural-based content, and five modules included an accompanying podcast. For social support, participants had access to an optional online community forum. Fifty-two participants self-reported their height and weight and completed an online questionnaire package at pre-intervention and 27 at post-intervention (12 weeks). The intervention was largely acceptable to completers, as the average satisfaction rating across modules was 8.30/10.00 and the average likelihoods that a participant would continue to use the skills learned and recommend the modules to another individual were 76.09% and 74.30%, respectively. Completers tended to be younger and have a lower starting weight and BMI than those that dropped out. Average weight change was -1.08kgs; further, 42.90% of the sample lost 3% or more of their total body weight. Symptoms of depression and anxiety did not significantly improve pre- to post-intervention, nor did levels of self-compassion; however, the frequency of weight control strategies did significantly increase pre- to post-intervention. The intervention was feasible in terms of recruitment ease (e.g., two weeks duration and cost $5.00 per participant), but not in terms of adherence (35.96%) or retention (46.65%).

Text

2022-08-04

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/82277

Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/