Longitudinal social networks impacts on weight and weight-related behaviors assessed using mobile-based ecological momentary assessments: Study Protocols for the SPARC study

BMC Public Health

Study Protocol

Michael Todd¹  Melissa Laska²  Genevieve Dunton³  David R. Schaefer⁴  Daniel Hruschka⁴  Alexandra Brewis⁴  Punam Ohri-Vachaspati⁵  Meg Bruening⁵  Corrie M. Whisner⁵ 

[1] College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA;Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA;Institute for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA;School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA;School of Nutrition and Health Promotion, Arizona State University, 550 N 5th Street, 85004, Phoenix, AZ, USA;

关键词: Social network;    Friendship;    Obesity;    Eating behaviors;    Dieting;    Physical activity;    College freshmen;    Emerging adults;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-016-3536-5

 received in 2016-07-21, accepted in 2016-08-17,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe transition from the home to college is a phase in which emerging adults shift toward more unhealthy eating and physical activity patterns, higher body mass indices, thus increasing risk of overweight/obesity. Currently, little is understood about how changing friendship networks shape weight gain behaviors. This paper describes the recruitment, data collection, and data analytic protocols for the SPARC (Social impact of Physical Activity and nutRition in College) study, a longitudinal examination of the mechanisms by which friends and friendship networks influence nutrition and physical activity behaviors and weight gain in the transition to college life.MethodsThe SPARC study aims to follow 1450 university freshmen from a large university over an academic year, collecting data on multiple aspects of friends and friendship networks. Integrating multiple types of data related to student lives, ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) are administered via a cell phone application, devilSPARC. EMAs collected in four 1-week periods (a total of 4 EMA waves) are integrated with linked data from web-based surveys and anthropometric measurements conducted at four times points (for a total of eight data collection periods including EMAs, separated by ~1 month). University databases will provide student card data, allowing integration of both time-dated data on food purchasing, use of physical activity venues, and geographical information system (GIS) locations of these activities relative to other students in their social networks.DiscussionFindings are intended to guide the development of more effective interventions to enhance behaviors among college students that protect against weight gain during college.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016