TY - JOUR
T1 - Efficacy and acceptability of a pilot dietary intervention focusing on self-compassion, goal-setting and self-monitoring
AU - Rahimi-Ardabili, Hania
AU - Vartanian, Lenny R
AU - Zwar, Nicholas
AU - Sharpe, Albie
AU - Reynolds, Rebecca Charlotte
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements: The authors are deeply grateful to Dr Husna Razee who thoughtfully provided invaluable guidance on qualitative data analysis. This research was a part of a PhD project which was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship. Special thanks to Ooooby Sydney, Kadampa Meditation Centre Sydney and Thankyou company for donating some incentives to the study participants. Financial support: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. Conflict of interest: None. Authorship: R.C.R. and H.R.-A. formulated the study questions and designed the pilot study. H.R.-A. prepared the intervention materials, and R.C.R. supervised this work. H.A.-R. and R.C.R. contributed to study recruitment. H.A.-R. carried out intervention and data collection (both qualitative and quantitative) and also performed data analysis and interpreted the data (both qualitative and quantitative). L.R.V. supervised quantitative data analysis. A.S. contributed to the final qualitative data interpretation. H.A.-R. wrote the first draft of the manuscript and R.C.R., L.R.V., N.Z. and A.S. contributed to the final manuscript. Ethics of human subject participation: This study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki, and all procedures involving study participants were approved by the UNSW Human Research Ethics Committee. Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects before any data collection.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - OBJECTIVE: Overweight and obesity are universal health challenges. Recent evidence emphasises the potential benefits of addressing psychological factors associated with obesity in dietary programmes. This pilot study investigated the efficacy and acceptability of a combined online and face-to-face dietary intervention that used self-compassion, goal-setting and self-monitoring to improve dietary behaviour, as well as psychological factors associated with dietary behaviour.DESIGN: Embedded mixed methods including a 4-week before-after trial and a one-on-one interview. Quantitative outcomes of the study were the levels of self-compassion; eating pathology; depression, anxiety and stress; and dietary intake. Qualitative outcomes were participants' perceptions about the acceptability of the intervention.SETTING: UNSW Kensington campus.PARTICIPANTS: Fourteen participants with overweight and obesity aged between 18 and 55 years old.RESULTS: Results showed that the intervention significantly improved self-compassion and some aspects of dietary intake (e.g. decrease in energy intake) at Week Four compared with Week Zero. Some aspects of eating pathology also significantly decreased (e.g. Eating Concern). However, changes in self-compassion over the 4 weeks did not significantly predict Week Four study outcomes, except for level of stress. Most participants found self-compassion, goal-setting and self-monitoring to be essential for dietary behaviour change. However, participants also indicated that an online programme needed to be efficient, simple and interactive.CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the current study provides preliminary but promising findings of an effective and acceptable combined online and face-to-face intervention that used self-compassion, goal-setting and self-monitoring to improve dietary habits. However, the results need to be examined in future long-term randomised controlled trials.
AB - OBJECTIVE: Overweight and obesity are universal health challenges. Recent evidence emphasises the potential benefits of addressing psychological factors associated with obesity in dietary programmes. This pilot study investigated the efficacy and acceptability of a combined online and face-to-face dietary intervention that used self-compassion, goal-setting and self-monitoring to improve dietary behaviour, as well as psychological factors associated with dietary behaviour.DESIGN: Embedded mixed methods including a 4-week before-after trial and a one-on-one interview. Quantitative outcomes of the study were the levels of self-compassion; eating pathology; depression, anxiety and stress; and dietary intake. Qualitative outcomes were participants' perceptions about the acceptability of the intervention.SETTING: UNSW Kensington campus.PARTICIPANTS: Fourteen participants with overweight and obesity aged between 18 and 55 years old.RESULTS: Results showed that the intervention significantly improved self-compassion and some aspects of dietary intake (e.g. decrease in energy intake) at Week Four compared with Week Zero. Some aspects of eating pathology also significantly decreased (e.g. Eating Concern). However, changes in self-compassion over the 4 weeks did not significantly predict Week Four study outcomes, except for level of stress. Most participants found self-compassion, goal-setting and self-monitoring to be essential for dietary behaviour change. However, participants also indicated that an online programme needed to be efficient, simple and interactive.CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the current study provides preliminary but promising findings of an effective and acceptable combined online and face-to-face intervention that used self-compassion, goal-setting and self-monitoring to improve dietary habits. However, the results need to be examined in future long-term randomised controlled trials.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086727216&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S1368980020000658
DO - 10.1017/S1368980020000658
M3 - Article
C2 - 32517844
SN - 1368-9800
VL - 23
SP - 2746
EP - 2758
JO - Public Health Nutrition
JF - Public Health Nutrition
IS - 15
ER -
