Author: Marny Michelle Ehmann

Publisher:

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

Most U.S. adults find it challenging to engage in eating behaviors that can reduce risk for disease (e.g., cancer, cardiovascular disease) or facilitate weight control. Adults interested in dietary improvement may seek out behavioral nutrition interventions, but their degree of success in behavior change may be limited in part by social influences outside of the intervention, especially those within the home. Social support for healthy eating in the home is one social influence that may be especially potent, as previous research suggests that it predicts dietary intake consistent with disease prevention guidelines and health behavior changes in a variety of groups. However, many social influences at the level of the home remain under-researched, including (1) social discouragement of healthy eating, which includes verbal and behavioral exchanges that undermine healthy eating, and (2) supportive accountability, which is the combination of social encouragement for health behaviors and accountability to a benevolent, trustworthy observing other for change. This current secondary data analysis investigated the relationships between social discouragement of healthy eating and supportive accountability and (1) psychological control of eating (i.e., cognitive restraint and uncontrolled eating) and (2) dietary quality (i.e., average daily intake of fiber, fruits, vegetables, and processed foods) in a sample of U.S. adults (N=62) enrolled in a 20-week dietary intervention for cancer prevention. Participants completed self-report surveys (i.e., social discouragement, supportive accountability, psychological control of eating) and 24-hour food recalls and food frequency questionnaires to measure dietary intake. Results showed that household social influences are related to psychological control of eating and daily vegetable and fruit intake. Aligned with hypotheses, social discouragement was positively associated with uncontrolled eating, furthering research that undermining may contribute to a reduced confidence in controlling eating. However, contrary to hypotheses, supportive accountability was negatively associated with vegetable and fruit intake. Relationship quality and autonomous motivation for healthy eating moderated key relationships between social influences and eating behaviors, and co-occurring social discouragement and supportive accountability may exacerbate poorer dietary intake. Results suggest that social discouragement of healthy eating and supportive accountability are key social influences in the household environment that should be further investigated in future dietary interventions.