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Social support for physical activity—role of Facebook with and without structured intervention

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Translational Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Despite their widespread use and extensive technical features, little is known about how to use online social networking sites to increase physical activity. This study aims to examine Facebook engagement among participants in the online social networking arm of a randomized controlled physical activity promotion trial (n = 67). Facebook communications were double coded and analyzed using ATLAS.ti. Regression procedures were used to determine predictors of Facebook use and associations between types of use and changes in perceived social support and physical activity. Changes in perceived social support and physical activity were more strongly associated with participants’ individual Facebook use than use of the Facebook intervention group. The way social media sites are used in intervention design could have an impact on their effects. Including existing friends in interventions and using applications that incorporate intervention activities into a more naturalistic use of Facebook may improve the efficacy of future interventions.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Cancer Control Education Program, Predoctoral Fellowship, UNC (5R25-CA057726) and by a grant from NIH (DK056350) to the University of North Carolina Nutrition Obesity Research Center.

Conflict of interest

All authors of this manuscript declare that they have no conflicts to report.

Ethical standards and informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study.

Author information

Author notes

  1. David N. Cavallo Ph.D.

    Present address: Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research, University of California Los Angeles, 650 Charles Young Drive South, Room A2-125, CHS Box 956900, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-6900, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    David N. Cavallo Ph.D., Dianne S. Ward Ed.D., Linden M. Thayer & Alice S. Ammerman Dr.PH.

  2. Departments of Nutrition and Health Behavior, University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Deborah F. Tate Ph.D.

  3. Department of Health Behavior, University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Robert F. DeVellis Ph.D.

Authors
  1. David N. Cavallo Ph.D.
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  2. Deborah F. Tate Ph.D.
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  3. Dianne S. Ward Ed.D.
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  4. Robert F. DeVellis Ph.D.
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  5. Linden M. Thayer
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  6. Alice S. Ammerman Dr.PH.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David N. Cavallo Ph.D..

Additional information

Implications

Practice: Establishing groups within online social networks to promote social support for physical activity may be less effective than instructing participants to enlist their existing connections.

Policy: Although social networking sites may provide an easily disseminated means of delivering physical activity interventions, large-scale programs should be delayed until more is known about the principles underlying their use.

Research: Research is needed to establish underlying principles of effectiveness in the use of social networking sites to promote physical activity.

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Cavallo, D.N., Tate, D.F., Ward, D.S. et al. Social support for physical activity—role of Facebook with and without structured intervention. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 4, 346–354 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-014-0269-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-014-0269-9

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