Abstract
BackgroundBody image concerns are prevalent among Brazilian adolescents and can lead to poor psychological and physical health. Yet, there is a scarcity of culturally-appropriate, evidence-based interventions that have been evaluated and made widely available. Chatbot technology (i.e., software that mimics written or spoken human speech) offers an innovative method to increase the scalability of mental health interventions for adolescents. The present protocol outlines the co-creation and evaluation of a body image chatbot for Brazilian adolescents via a partnership between academics, industry organisations and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).MethodsA two-armed fully remote randomised controlled trial will evaluate the chatbot’s effectiveness at improving body image and well-being. Adolescent girls and boys (N = 2800) aged 13–18 years recruited online will be randomly allocated (1:1) into either: 1) a body image chatbot or 2) an assessment-only control condition. Adolescents will engage with the chatbot over a 72-hour period on Facebook Messenger. Primary outcomes will assess the immediate and short-term impact of the chatbot on state- and trait-based body image, respectively. Secondary outcomes will include state- and trait-based affect, trait self-efficacy and treatment adherence.DiscussionThis research is the first to develop an evidence-informed body image chatbot for Brazilian adolescents, with the proposed efficacy trial aiming to provide support for accessible, scalable and cost-effective interventions that address disparities in body image prevalence and readily available resources.Trial registration numberNCT04825184, registered 30th March 2021.
Highlights
Body image concerns are prevalent among Brazilian adolescents and can lead to poor psychological and physical health
Body image in Brazil With a population of over 212 million people ([7]), body image concerns in Brazil are common across the lifespan, among adolescents
Prevalence of body image concerns range between 26.6–56% and 10.7–36% for adolescent girls and boys, respectively [8,9,10]
Summary
Body image concerns are prevalent among Brazilian adolescents and can lead to poor psychological and physical health. This paper outlines the study protocol for the cocreation and evaluation of a scalable body image chatbot (i.e., software that mimics written or spoken human speech) designed with and for Brazilian adolescents through a partnership between academics, industry organisations (beauty [Dove]; communication and technology [Talk2U]) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Consumer trends show Brazil is the leading country in diet pill consumption and cosmetic surgery, with 2.5 million surgical and non-surgical aesthetic procedures conducted annually [13] This is concerning given that body image is a key risk factor for depressive symptoms, smoking, substance misuse and self-harm in other countries [14]. Cosmetic procedures incur significant financial expense and have potential medical complications [15] Together, these findings highlight the urgency for -accessible, scalable, and cost-effective interventions designed to address body image concerns among Brazilian populations.
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