TY - JOUR
T1 - Social Support for Exercise as a Predictor of Weight and Physical Activity Status Among Puerto Rican and Mexican Men
T2 - Results From the Latino Men’s Health Initiative
AU - Craven, Meredith R.
AU - Keefer, Laurie
AU - Rademaker, Alfred
AU - Dykema-Engblade, Amanda
AU - Sanchez-Johnsen, Lisa
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research and data collection was initially funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) National Cancer Institute, Grant numbers R21CA143636 and R1CA143636-S to Dr. Sánchez-Johnsen. The research reported in this publication was also supported by a grant funded by the NIH’s National Cancer Institute, Grant numbers U54CA202995, U54CA202997, and U54CA203000 to Dr. Sanchez-Johnsen, Dr. Amanda-Dykema-Engblade, Dr. Alfred Rademaker, Ms. Magdalena Nava, and Leonilda Calderon. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. The first author (Ms. Meredith Craven) is also supported by a National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Institutional Training Grant (T32DK101363) at Northwestern University. The data analyses reported in this publication is part of Ms. Craven’s master’s thesis.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The Author(s).
PY - 2018/7/1
Y1 - 2018/7/1
N2 - Social support is an important factor in increasing positive health outcomes and positive health behaviors across a variety of disease states including obesity. However, research examining the relationship between social support for exercise and weight and physical activity status, particularly among Latino men, is lacking. This paper examined whether social support for exercise predicted weight and physical activity status and whether the direction of these relationships differ as a function of Hispanic/Latino background (Puerto Rican/Mexican). Participants were 203 men who participated in a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study addressing culture- and obesity-related variables. Both family participation social support and family rewards and punishment social support predicted higher weight status (p <.005 and p <.05, respectively). Friend participation social support did not predict weight status. The direction of the relationship between weight status and family participation social support, family rewards and punishment social support, and friend participation social support did not significantly differ as a function of Hispanic/Latino background. The direction of the relationship between physical activity status and family participation social support, family rewards and punishment social support, and friend participation social support did not significantly differ as a function of Hispanic/Latino background. Findings suggest that increased social support for exercise from family members may be focused on those who need it most—overweight and obese participants. Additional research is needed to explore sociocultural factors that may promote social support, physical activity, and weight loss and maintenance in Puerto Rican and Mexican men.
AB - Social support is an important factor in increasing positive health outcomes and positive health behaviors across a variety of disease states including obesity. However, research examining the relationship between social support for exercise and weight and physical activity status, particularly among Latino men, is lacking. This paper examined whether social support for exercise predicted weight and physical activity status and whether the direction of these relationships differ as a function of Hispanic/Latino background (Puerto Rican/Mexican). Participants were 203 men who participated in a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study addressing culture- and obesity-related variables. Both family participation social support and family rewards and punishment social support predicted higher weight status (p <.005 and p <.05, respectively). Friend participation social support did not predict weight status. The direction of the relationship between weight status and family participation social support, family rewards and punishment social support, and friend participation social support did not significantly differ as a function of Hispanic/Latino background. The direction of the relationship between physical activity status and family participation social support, family rewards and punishment social support, and friend participation social support did not significantly differ as a function of Hispanic/Latino background. Findings suggest that increased social support for exercise from family members may be focused on those who need it most—overweight and obese participants. Additional research is needed to explore sociocultural factors that may promote social support, physical activity, and weight loss and maintenance in Puerto Rican and Mexican men.
KW - Latino/Hispanic
KW - exercise
KW - men
KW - social support
KW - weight
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U2 - 10.1177/1557988318754915
DO - 10.1177/1557988318754915
M3 - Article
C2 - 29451072
AN - SCOPUS:85048967508
SN - 1557-9883
VL - 12
SP - 766
EP - 778
JO - American Journal of Men's Health
JF - American Journal of Men's Health
IS - 4
ER -
