Leveraging social media to promote body positivity among Latino adolescents

New York University School Of Medicine, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

The Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) will support my long-term career goal of testing whether the mental and physical health of youth, particularly those from communities with social and economic challenges, improves when social norms encourage widespread promotion of body positive messages. Negative attitudes/behaviors towards specific groups has been identified as a fundamental cause of health problems, but weight-related negative attitudes/behaviors has received relatively less attention. For larger bodied people, negative attitudes/behaviors because of weight are associated with suboptimal mental and physical outcomes (e.g., depression, disordered eating). High rates of adolescent obesity disproportionately impact Latino youth in the U.S. putting them at increased risk for poor health outcomes. Social media offers untapped potential to promote healthy norms around body size and shape. To leverage youth’s heavy engagement with social media and its ability to shape norms, I am proposing a social media intervention designed to positively influence adolescents’ views of those living in larger bodies, increase the likelihood that adolescents promote positive content about body size and shape, and discourage adolescents from engaging in harmful actions towards others because of their weight. The limited research on social media interventions to promote body positivity (positive feelings about body size and shape) has involved a one-time intervention exposure and has largely been done with White, female adult samples. My proposed research will address these gaps by studying male and female Latino youth who will receive multiple exposures to body positive messages via Instagram. The specific aims of this proposal are to (1) use qualitative methods to understand Latino youth’s view on body positive messages to inform the development of an Instagram body positivity campaign, (2) develop an Instagram body positivity campaign to increase body positivity among Latino adolescents, and (3) conduct a pilot RCT to assess the impact of a body positivity Instagram campaign tailored to Latino youth on weight-related attitudes and mental health. For Aim 1, I will conduct 20 interviews with youth about body positivity to identify key themes that will inform development of a campaign to promote body positivity among Latino youth. In Aim 2, I will develop 20 campaign messages and pre-test those messages with 100 Latino adolescents to select messages for use in the pilot RTC. In Aim 3, 114 Latino adolescents will engage with a study campaign (intervention or control) for 4 weeks and complete baseline and follow-up surveys. My training goals will support my research efforts including the development of expertise in (1) negative attitudes/behaviors about weight and evidence-based strategies to promote body positivity, (2) applying principles of community-engaged participatory research to develop culturally relevant interventions, (3) developing health communication interventions using social media, and (4) designing and analyzing longitudinal randomized-controlled trials. My training will be enhanced with professional development opportunities, institutional resources, and exceptional mentorship. This K01 will allow me to establish an independent research program aimed at diminishing the toll of negative weight-based attitudes/behaviors