The Role of Social Support in Weight Maintenance in a Sample of Premenopausal Women

Abstract

Social support (SS) is an important facilitator in weight loss and weight loss maintenance; however, the role of SS in weight maintenance (i.e., weight gain prevention) has not yet been examined. The relationship between SS and successful weight maintenance (body weight [BW] change limited to ±3%) was explored in 63 premenopausal women enrolled in a 1-year randomized controlled trial. Upon enrollment and completion of the trial, women (mean±SD, age: 31.1±8.3 y; BW: 77.3±20.2 kg; body mass index: 28.2±6.9 kg/m2) completed an investigator-designed questionnaire assessing Social Cognitive Theory constructs including SS from family and friends. The questionnaire included 296, 5-point Likert scale (1=lowest; 5=highest) questions; 72 questions addressed SS (42 family SS, 30 friend SS). Changes in SS over time were examined using paired t-tests. Independent t-tests and ANOVA were applied to determine differences in SS between weight maintainers (n=38) and non-weight maintainers (n=25) and weight maintainers (n=38), weight losers (n=8, BW change >-3%) and weight gainers (n=17, BW change >+3%), respectively. Significance was set at P<0.05. Overall, SS scores were low at baseline (total: 1.9±0.7; family: 1.9±0.7; friends: 1.8±0.8) and did not significantly change over time (total: 1.9±0.8; family: 2.0±0.8; friends: 1.9±0.9). No differences in total, family or friend SS were observed between weight maintainers and non-weight maintainers or between weight maintainers, weight losers or weight gainers. In this study, SS did not influence weight maintenance. Future interventions should focus on increasing SS and using additional methods to further assess the role of SS in weight maintenance.