Feasibility and preliminary effects of the mindful healthy family project among rural families

Background/purpose: Rural adults and children are at higher risk for overweight and obesity. However, there are relatively few lifestyle modification programs available for these high-risk families, mainly because of the difficulty in reaching them. This mindfulness-based motivational interviewing (...

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Main Authors: Tsui-Sui Annie Kao, Jiying Ling, Mohammed Alanazi, Nick Bara, Jessica Barnes Najor
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21642850.2024.2446368
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author Tsui-Sui Annie Kao
Jiying Ling
Mohammed Alanazi
Nick Bara
Jessica Barnes Najor
author_facet Tsui-Sui Annie Kao
Jiying Ling
Mohammed Alanazi
Nick Bara
Jessica Barnes Najor
author_sort Tsui-Sui Annie Kao
collection DOAJ
description Background/purpose: Rural adults and children are at higher risk for overweight and obesity. However, there are relatively few lifestyle modification programs available for these high-risk families, mainly because of the difficulty in reaching them. This mindfulness-based motivational interviewing (MM-based-MI) pilot aimed to improve parents’ healthy eating index (HEI), collective family efficacy, family satisfaction, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms as well as parent–child dyads’ eating patterns, physical activity (PA), and body mass index (BMI).Methods: This randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in the Midwestern US to examine the feasibility (enrollment, attendance, and attrition), acceptability, and preliminary effects of an MM-based-MI intervention that contained nine sessions of health coaching (1-on-1), while the active-control included nine emailed health handouts sent over an 18-week period.Results: A total of 46 parents (29 intervention, 17 control; Mage = 38.5 years, 85% female) participated. The enrollment rate, intervention attendance rate, and attrition rate were 12.6%, 79.8%, and 23.9% respectively. Although not statistically significant, compared to the control, the MM-based-MI intervention showed positive effects on improving parents’ HEI in terms of increasing total HEI score (Cohen’s d = 0.43), vegetable intake (d = 0.41), greens/beans (d = 0.59), protein food (d = 0.82), and self-efficacy in exercise (d = 0.21), as well as decreasing total calories (Kcal, d = −0.58), added sugar (d = −0.50), and depressive symptoms (d = −0.42), while controlling for marital status. Controlling for age, sex, and marital status, intervention children had greater improvement in increasing fiber (d = 0.75) and protein (d = 0.72) intake compared to the active-control group. Moreover, parents in both groups reported improvement (small to large effects) in ↑mindful eating, ↑collective family efficacy, ↑family satisfaction, and ↓perceived stress over time.Conclusions: Despite some limitations (small sample size, virtual at home measurement), our results support the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of this Mindful Healthy Family program on potentially mitigating some obesogenic behaviors among rural parent–child dyads.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05324969.
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spelling doaj-art-bcb1489ce4fb4840aaa661651ddafafa2024-12-26T14:58:04ZengTaylor & Francis GroupHealth Psychology and Behavioral Medicine2164-28502025-12-0113110.1080/21642850.2024.2446368Feasibility and preliminary effects of the mindful healthy family project among rural familiesTsui-Sui Annie Kao0Jiying Ling1Mohammed Alanazi2Nick Bara3Jessica Barnes Najor4College of Nursing, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USACollege of Nursing, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USAUniversity of Bisha, Bisha, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USAUniversity Outreach and Engagement, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USABackground/purpose: Rural adults and children are at higher risk for overweight and obesity. However, there are relatively few lifestyle modification programs available for these high-risk families, mainly because of the difficulty in reaching them. This mindfulness-based motivational interviewing (MM-based-MI) pilot aimed to improve parents’ healthy eating index (HEI), collective family efficacy, family satisfaction, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms as well as parent–child dyads’ eating patterns, physical activity (PA), and body mass index (BMI).Methods: This randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in the Midwestern US to examine the feasibility (enrollment, attendance, and attrition), acceptability, and preliminary effects of an MM-based-MI intervention that contained nine sessions of health coaching (1-on-1), while the active-control included nine emailed health handouts sent over an 18-week period.Results: A total of 46 parents (29 intervention, 17 control; Mage = 38.5 years, 85% female) participated. The enrollment rate, intervention attendance rate, and attrition rate were 12.6%, 79.8%, and 23.9% respectively. Although not statistically significant, compared to the control, the MM-based-MI intervention showed positive effects on improving parents’ HEI in terms of increasing total HEI score (Cohen’s d = 0.43), vegetable intake (d = 0.41), greens/beans (d = 0.59), protein food (d = 0.82), and self-efficacy in exercise (d = 0.21), as well as decreasing total calories (Kcal, d = −0.58), added sugar (d = −0.50), and depressive symptoms (d = −0.42), while controlling for marital status. Controlling for age, sex, and marital status, intervention children had greater improvement in increasing fiber (d = 0.75) and protein (d = 0.72) intake compared to the active-control group. Moreover, parents in both groups reported improvement (small to large effects) in ↑mindful eating, ↑collective family efficacy, ↑family satisfaction, and ↓perceived stress over time.Conclusions: Despite some limitations (small sample size, virtual at home measurement), our results support the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of this Mindful Healthy Family program on potentially mitigating some obesogenic behaviors among rural parent–child dyads.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05324969.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21642850.2024.2446368Mindfulnessmotivational interviewingobesogenic behaviorslifestyle modification
spellingShingle Tsui-Sui Annie Kao
Jiying Ling
Mohammed Alanazi
Nick Bara
Jessica Barnes Najor
Feasibility and preliminary effects of the mindful healthy family project among rural families
Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine
Mindfulness
motivational interviewing
obesogenic behaviors
lifestyle modification
title Feasibility and preliminary effects of the mindful healthy family project among rural families
title_full Feasibility and preliminary effects of the mindful healthy family project among rural families
title_fullStr Feasibility and preliminary effects of the mindful healthy family project among rural families
title_full_unstemmed Feasibility and preliminary effects of the mindful healthy family project among rural families
title_short Feasibility and preliminary effects of the mindful healthy family project among rural families
title_sort feasibility and preliminary effects of the mindful healthy family project among rural families
topic Mindfulness
motivational interviewing
obesogenic behaviors
lifestyle modification
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21642850.2024.2446368
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