Improving fitness professionals' awareness and understanding of eating disorder symptoms: Effects of a brief interventionPractical implications:
Summary: Objectives: Eating disorders (EDs) are complex, potentially life-threatening mental illnesses associated with low detection in health settings and low treatment rates. Compulsive exercise is a common ED feature, with symptoms likely to manifest in fitness settings. Fitness professionals ar...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-01-01
|
| Series: | JSAMS Plus |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772696723000030 |
| _version_ | 1797342124350373888 |
|---|---|
| author | Stephanie Boulet Alexander Blaszczynski Jane Miskovic-Wheatley Dylan Pickering Sarah Maguire |
| author_facet | Stephanie Boulet Alexander Blaszczynski Jane Miskovic-Wheatley Dylan Pickering Sarah Maguire |
| author_sort | Stephanie Boulet |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: Objectives: Eating disorders (EDs) are complex, potentially life-threatening mental illnesses associated with low detection in health settings and low treatment rates. Compulsive exercise is a common ED feature, with symptoms likely to manifest in fitness settings. Fitness professionals are ideally placed to identify ED indicators among clients, to encourage help-seeking, and to offer referrals to specialist treatment services. This study aimed to investigate whether existing industry guidelines in Australia (i.e., “Eating Disorders: Recommendations for the Fitness Industry”) help to improve fitness professionals’ awareness and understanding of ED symptoms and appropriate interventions when detected among clients. Design: Cross sectional study; randomised controlled trial Methods: 174 fitness professionals practicing in Australia completed an anonymous online survey. Participants were presented with two vignettes of fictional clients displaying ED indicators and were assessed on their ability to identify ED symptoms and consider appropriate responses. A subgroup of randomised participants was exposed to industry ED recommendations prior to the second vignette, to assess the impact of guideline exposure. Results: Most participants (87.36%) were unaware/unfamiliar with the recommendations at baseline. After exposure to the recommendations, participants in the treatment condition showed small improvements in their ability to identify ED symptoms and their self-reported likelihood of intervening, compared to control participants who were not exposed. Conclusions: More widespread exposure to existing ED recommendations may be a worthwhile step to enhance the awareness and knowledge of fitness professionals interacting with clients with EDs. This study further highlights the need for more in-depth and empirically tested educational resources and programs to optimise early detection and intervention of EDs in fitness settings. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:28:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c1e2953dea714046be2a6224d0423216 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2772-6967 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:28:52Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JSAMS Plus |
| spelling | doaj.art-c1e2953dea714046be2a6224d04232162024-01-27T07:01:14ZengElsevierJSAMS Plus2772-69672023-01-012100022Improving fitness professionals' awareness and understanding of eating disorder symptoms: Effects of a brief interventionPractical implications:Stephanie Boulet0Alexander Blaszczynski1Jane Miskovic-Wheatley2Dylan Pickering3Sarah Maguire4InsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders. University of Sydney & Sydney Local Health District, The Charles Perkins Centre, D17, The University of Sydney, Johns Hopkins Drive, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2006, Australia; Corresponding author.University of Sydney, Brain and Mind Centre, 94 Mallet Street, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2050, AustraliaInsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders. University of Sydney & Sydney Local Health District, The Charles Perkins Centre, D17, The University of Sydney, Johns Hopkins Drive, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2006, AustraliaUniversity of Sydney, Brain and Mind Centre, 94 Mallet Street, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2050, AustraliaInsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders. University of Sydney & Sydney Local Health District, The Charles Perkins Centre, D17, The University of Sydney, Johns Hopkins Drive, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2006, AustraliaSummary: Objectives: Eating disorders (EDs) are complex, potentially life-threatening mental illnesses associated with low detection in health settings and low treatment rates. Compulsive exercise is a common ED feature, with symptoms likely to manifest in fitness settings. Fitness professionals are ideally placed to identify ED indicators among clients, to encourage help-seeking, and to offer referrals to specialist treatment services. This study aimed to investigate whether existing industry guidelines in Australia (i.e., “Eating Disorders: Recommendations for the Fitness Industry”) help to improve fitness professionals’ awareness and understanding of ED symptoms and appropriate interventions when detected among clients. Design: Cross sectional study; randomised controlled trial Methods: 174 fitness professionals practicing in Australia completed an anonymous online survey. Participants were presented with two vignettes of fictional clients displaying ED indicators and were assessed on their ability to identify ED symptoms and consider appropriate responses. A subgroup of randomised participants was exposed to industry ED recommendations prior to the second vignette, to assess the impact of guideline exposure. Results: Most participants (87.36%) were unaware/unfamiliar with the recommendations at baseline. After exposure to the recommendations, participants in the treatment condition showed small improvements in their ability to identify ED symptoms and their self-reported likelihood of intervening, compared to control participants who were not exposed. Conclusions: More widespread exposure to existing ED recommendations may be a worthwhile step to enhance the awareness and knowledge of fitness professionals interacting with clients with EDs. This study further highlights the need for more in-depth and empirically tested educational resources and programs to optimise early detection and intervention of EDs in fitness settings.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772696723000030Feeding and eating disordersCompulsive exerciseGuidelinesFitness professionals |
| spellingShingle | Stephanie Boulet Alexander Blaszczynski Jane Miskovic-Wheatley Dylan Pickering Sarah Maguire Improving fitness professionals' awareness and understanding of eating disorder symptoms: Effects of a brief interventionPractical implications: JSAMS Plus Feeding and eating disorders Compulsive exercise Guidelines Fitness professionals |
| title | Improving fitness professionals' awareness and understanding of eating disorder symptoms: Effects of a brief interventionPractical implications: |
| title_full | Improving fitness professionals' awareness and understanding of eating disorder symptoms: Effects of a brief interventionPractical implications: |
| title_fullStr | Improving fitness professionals' awareness and understanding of eating disorder symptoms: Effects of a brief interventionPractical implications: |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improving fitness professionals' awareness and understanding of eating disorder symptoms: Effects of a brief interventionPractical implications: |
| title_short | Improving fitness professionals' awareness and understanding of eating disorder symptoms: Effects of a brief interventionPractical implications: |
| title_sort | improving fitness professionals awareness and understanding of eating disorder symptoms effects of a brief interventionpractical implications |
| topic | Feeding and eating disorders Compulsive exercise Guidelines Fitness professionals |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772696723000030 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT stephanieboulet improvingfitnessprofessionalsawarenessandunderstandingofeatingdisordersymptomseffectsofabriefinterventionpracticalimplications AT alexanderblaszczynski improvingfitnessprofessionalsawarenessandunderstandingofeatingdisordersymptomseffectsofabriefinterventionpracticalimplications AT janemiskovicwheatley improvingfitnessprofessionalsawarenessandunderstandingofeatingdisordersymptomseffectsofabriefinterventionpracticalimplications AT dylanpickering improvingfitnessprofessionalsawarenessandunderstandingofeatingdisordersymptomseffectsofabriefinterventionpracticalimplications AT sarahmaguire improvingfitnessprofessionalsawarenessandunderstandingofeatingdisordersymptomseffectsofabriefinterventionpracticalimplications |