Abstract
Women in midlife (ages 40–60) show decreases in physical activity (PA) that exacerbate risk for cardiovascular disease. Social comparisons (i.e., self-evaluations relative to others) are known to influence PA in other groups, but their association in this population is unknown. The present study used ecological momentary assessment to examine this relation among women in midlife with hypertension or another CVD risk condition (N = 75, MBMI = 34.0 kg/m2). Participants completed 5 surveys per day and wore tri-axial accelerometers for 10 days. PA engagement was lower after women reported more comparisons than were typical for them (7–14% reductions in PA for each additional comparison). These relations varied across days of observation and relations were positive on 34–58% of days. Findings call for careful consideration of how best to harness any potential benefits of social comparison for promoting PA in this and other groups.
Highlights
MethodsWomen were eligible to participate if they were between 40 and 60 years old (inclusive) and reported one or more of the following CVD risk factors: smoking (current or quit within the past three months), hypertension or prehypertension, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia or hypercholesterolemia, or metabolic syndrome
An intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.20 indicated that 20% of the variability in the overall number of comparisons reported was attributable to stable, between-person differences, whereas 80% was attributable to within-person fluctuation
The experience of social comparison is common among women in midlife and may represent a useful target of physical activity (PA) intervention for this population
Summary
Women were eligible to participate if they were between 40 and 60 years old (inclusive) and reported one or more of the following CVD risk factors: smoking (current or quit within the past three months), hypertension or prehypertension, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia or hypercholesterolemia, or metabolic syndrome. Active recruitment took place in affiliated primary care offices; after chart review, eligible patients were given information about the study and invited to complete a brief telephone call to discuss their interest (see Fig. 1 for an enrollment flowchart). The largest subsets of participants were married (56%), identified as post-menopausal (41%), and reported a diagnosis of hyperlipidemia or hypercholesterolemia (52%).
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