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Digital Acceptance & Commitment Therapy for Weight Self-stigma
Sponsor: Utah State University
Summary
Individuals with overweight experience chronic, pervasive stigma, which is a significant contributor to poor health outcomes. The negative consequences of stigma are further worsened among individuals with overweight who internalize and apply stigmatizing attitudes to themselves, a process called weight self-stigma. Despite its prevalence and consequences, there are notably few evidence-based interventions for weight self-stigma, with acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) being the most studied treatment to-date. Previous trials have found ACT effective for addressing weight self-stigma among adults with overweight through a one-day workshop and 10-week group. A self-guided ACT intervention has potential benefits for increasing access and reach of these services, which is supported by positive results in trials evaluating ACT delivered in a self-help book and a digital intervention format. However, these self-guided interventions included weight self-stigma as a more secondary focus and no studies have evaluated a digital ACT intervention designed specifically to address weight self-stigma. The proposed RCT will evaluate a digital ACT single session intervention relative to a waitlist control in a sample of 100 adults reporting overweight and high weight self-stigma.
Official title: Evaluation of a Single Session Digital ACT Program for Weight Self-stigma
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
100
Start Date
2026-10-05
Completion Date
2027-12-01
Last Updated
2026-10-13
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
ACT Guide for Weight Self-Stigma
Participants randomized to the ACT condition will be asked to complete the single session program as soon as possible (ideally that day), and a RA will monitor and check in with participants to encourage completion of the single session program. The program will take approximately 45 minutes to complete. The content of the program focuses on cognitive defusion skills to address weight-related judgments and values skills to increase engagement in meaningful activities that are impacted by weight self-stigma.