View clinical trials related to Waitlist Control.
Filter by:Despite the numerous physical and psychological benefits of taking part in sport, studies consistently show that only 15% of adolescent girls globally meet the recommended daily exercise guidelines (Guthold et al., 2018). The team climate, created by coaches, has been identified as a critical factor in both girls' participation in, and enjoyment of, sport and movement (CITE). Research indicates that girls disengage from sport because of body image concerns, uncomfortable and objectifying uniforms, appearance-related teasing from peers and coaches, untrained coaches, and negative team cultures (Murray et al., 2021; Vani et al., 2021). help coaching girls books as another form of media that produces "commonsense proof" of girls' sport inferiority, essentializes gender differences, reifies the gender binary (Kane, 1995), and marginalizes the sport participation of girls. The beliefs, values and expectations of significant adults can positively or negatively influence self-perceptions, motivation, experiences, and behaviors of children (Fredricks & Eccles, 2005; Brustad et al., 2001) and also directly influence the coaching behaviors of adults (Cassidy et al., 2005). The 'coaching girls' books examined for this study were formulaic products written from a perspective of difference, "despite extensive evidence from meta-analysis research of gender differences which supports the gender similarity hypothesis" (Hyde, 2005, p.590). ambivalent and primarily non-research based messages contained within the books trivialize, misrepresent, distort, and marginalize girls' emotions, thoughts, relationships, skills and behaviors in sport contexts (Birrell & Theberge, 1994), while upholding coaching boys as normative praxis. Coaching girls books appear to "help" coaches of female athletes, while simultaneously reifying gender stereotypes that undermine female empowerment that can occur in and through sports. Praxis based on gendered beliefs of inherent difference is dangerous as it can undermine male-female relationships as well as beliefs of equality, and deprive all children of the opportunity to develop their full human potential (Barnett & Rivers, 2004). Coaches must be aware that coaching is a gendered practice in which beliefs and values are enacted, sometimes in ways that limit the experiences of their athletes. On the other hand, sport participation can improve girls' self perceptions and lead to accrual of health and development assets if the coach and adults in the context are aware of the gendered nature of sport, and strive to eliminate deleterious effects (LaVoi, 2018). This study will test an educational program for coaches aimed at reducing gender essentialist beliefs and gender stereotypes of coaches, to improve the sport experience for girls.
According to the World Health Organization, only 15% of 11-17-year-old girls meet the recommended daily physical movement guidelines (e.g., 60-minutes per day). Despite extensive research highlighting the protective factors associated with sport on both mental and physical health, body image concerns are a key barrier to girls' participation in and enjoyment of sport. Sports-related environments and society more broadly further exacerbate these concerns through harmful gender stereotypes that perpetuate female objectification, discrimination, and harassment. This includes the promotion of unrealistic and sexualized appearances of female athletes, uncomfortable and objectifying uniforms, and appearance and competence-related teasing from male and female peers, as well as coaches. The magnitude of this issue and how best to address it, can be understood from a socioecological perspective. Researchers suggest developing multi-faceted and multi-tiered approaches that have scope for targeting the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and societal levels. The current research will test the first coach delivered embodying sports program for girls that will be implemented through sporting organizations. The Body Confident Athletes program was co-created with girls and coaches through an international multi-disciplinary partnership between academics, health professionals, industry, and community organizations. Multi-disciplinary partnerships can create a supportive landscape by upskilling girls and influential community members (e.g., coaches) in dealing with body image concerns, which will likely lead to sustained sports participation and biopsychosocial benefits. As such, the aim of the present study is to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of the Body Confident Athletes program. The program consists of five 60-minute sessions delivered by coaches to adolescent girls. Each session tackles a distinct theme related to body image in the sporting context. Outcomes will be assessed at pre- and post-intervention (5 weeks later) and include body image (primary outcome), sport enjoyment and embodied experiences (secondary outcomes), and feasibility, acceptability, and adherence (process outcomes). The comparison control arm will be a waitlist control condition. To undertake this project, sporting organizations will be cluster-randomized into the intervention group or the control group, with 80 girls anticipated in each arm. Those in the intervention condition will complete baseline assessments (target outcomes and demographic information), take part in the five-week intervention, and then complete the post-intervention assessments (target outcomes and feasibility and acceptability measures). Those in the waitlist control condition will complete the baseline assessments (target outcomes and demographic information) and a second assessment five weeks later (target outcomes only), after which they will get access to the intervention. However, their engagement with the intervention will not be monitored or assessed. At completion of the post-intervention survey, all participants will receive a debrief form, outlining the study aims and objectives, and additional resources for body image and eating concerns. Lastly, to compensate participants for their time, girls and coaches will receive an electronic voucher to the value of $60 dollars. The investigators hypothesize that girls who take part in the Body Confident Athletes intervention will report better body image, greater sport enjoyment, and higher levels of embodiment at post-intervention than girls who do not take part in the intervention.
According to the World Health Organization, only 15% of 11-17-year-old girls meet the recommended daily physical movement guidelines (e.g., 60-minutes per day). Despite extensive research highlighting the protective factors associated with sport on both mental and physical health, body image concerns are a key barrier to girls' participation in and enjoyment of sport. Sports-related environments and society more broadly further exacerbate these concerns through harmful gender stereotypes that perpetuate female objectification, discrimination, and harassment. This includes the promotion of unrealistic and sexualized appearances of female athletes, uncomfortable and objectifying uniforms, and appearance and competence-related teasing from male and female peers, as well as coaches. To date, research has predominantly focused on athletes' perceptions of the extent to which coaches perpetuate athletes' body image concerns. However, several recent studies have been conducted exploring the perception of coaches and their role in addressing body image concerns among girls in sport. The findings of these studies indicate that although coaches are often able to identify body image concerns among their athletes, they are apprehensive to explicitly address these issues for fear of making the concerns worse. As such, systemic strategies are required within sport settings that upskill coaches as well as athletes and significant others in the athletes' environment to address body image concerns among adolescent girls in sport. At present, few such programs exist, and limited body image resources are available to coaches, despite coaches perceiving body image education as a personal and professional requirement for working with young people. The current research will test the first online body image program for coaches. The Body Confident Coaching program was co-created with girls and coaches through an international multi-disciplinary partnership between academics, health professionals, industry, and community organizations. Multi-disciplinary partnerships can create a supportive landscape by upskilling athletes and coaches in dealing with body image concerns, which will likely lead to sustained sports participation and biopsychosocial benefits. As such, the aim of the present study is to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of the Body Confident Coaching program. The program consists of five 20-minute modules that coaches complete online. Each session tackles a distinct theme related to body image in the sporting context. Outcomes will be assessed at pre- and post-intervention and include coaches' self-efficacy to tackle athletes' body image concerns (primary outcome), coaches' fat phobia and gender essentialist beliefs (secondary outcomes), and feasibility, acceptability, and adherence (process outcomes). The comparison control arm will be a waitlist control condition. To undertake this project, coaches will be randomized into the intervention group or the control group, with 60 coaches anticipated in each arm. Those in the intervention condition will complete baseline assessments (target outcomes and demographic information), take part in the two-week intervention, and then complete the post-intervention assessments (target outcomes and feasibility and acceptability measures). Those in the waitlist control condition will complete the baseline assessments (target outcomes and demographic information) and a second assessment two weeks later (target outcomes only), after which they will get access to the online intervention. However, their engagement with the intervention will not be monitored or assessed. At completion of the post-intervention survey, all participants will receive a debrief form, outlining the study aims and objectives, and additional resources for body image and eating concerns. Lastly, to compensate participants for their time, coaches will receive an electronic voucher to the value of $25 dollars. The investigators hypothesize that coaches who take part in the Body Confident Coaching intervention will report greater self-efficacy in identifying and tackling body image concerns among their athletes, and lower levels of fat phobia and gender essentialism at post-intervention than coaches who do not take part in the intervention.
The purpose of this study is to examine whether Staying Strong With Schools, a school-based intervention to support military-connected children, will be helpful for school professionals and military parents in supporting specific needs of this population of children. As part of the partnership between three school districts in Massachusetts and the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program, the investigators will examine the efficacy of a training delivered to these schools. The schools will be randomly divided into two groups (like a toss of a coin). Half of the schools will receive the training in 2014-2015, and the other half will be waitlisted and receive the training the following year (2015-2016). All participants (school teachers, military-connected children, and their parents) will be asked to complete questionnaires the first year. The investigators hypothesize that, compared to the control schools, at the end of the school year, SSWS schools will be associated with: (1) greater sense of competence and quality of relationships with military-connected children (MCC) among school professionals; (2) lower parental distress and increased parental sense of competence and general family functioning; and (3) increased social support, and fewer academic, emotional, and behavioral problems among MCC. The investigators hypothesize that an increase in school professionals' sense of competence in identifying and handling MCC's needs, increased quality of relationships with MCC, lower parental distress, increased parental sense of competence, and increased general family functioning will mediate the efficacy of SSWS on MCC's social support and psychosocial functioning.