Identifying Social Network Conditions that Facilitate Sedentary Behavior Change: The Benefit of Being a “Bridge” in a Group-based Intervention

Sabina B. Gesell, Kayla de la Haye, Evan C. Sommer, Santiago J. Saldana, Shari L. Barkin and Edward H. Ip
Additional contact information
Sabina B. Gesell: Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA
Kayla de la Haye: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
Evan C. Sommer: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Academic General Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
Santiago J. Saldana: Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA
Shari L. Barkin: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Academic General Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
Edward H. Ip: Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: Using data from one of the first trials to try to leverage social networks as a mechanism for obesity intervention, we examined which social network conditions amplified behavior change. Data were collected as part of a community-based healthy lifestyle intervention in Nashville, USA, between June 2014 and July 2017. Adults randomized to the intervention arm were assigned to a small group of 10 participants that met in person for 12 weekly sessions. Intervention small group social networks were measured three times; sedentary behavior was measured by accelerometry at baseline and 12 months. Multivariate hidden Markov models classified people into distinct social network trajectories over time, based on the structure of the emergent network and where the individual was embedded. A multilevel regression analysis assessed the relationship between network trajectory and sedentary behavior (N = 261). Being a person that connected clusters of intervention participants at any point during the intervention predicted an average reduction of 31.3 min/day of sedentary behavior at 12 months, versus being isolated [95% CI: (−61.4, −1.07), p = 0.04]. Certain social network conditions may make it easier to reduce adult sedentary behavior in group-based interventions. While further research will be necessary to establish causality, the implications for intervention design are discussed.

Keywords: sedentary behavior; obesity; clinical trials; behavior strategies; Hispanics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4197/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4197/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:12:p:4197-:d:370641

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().