The Role of Social Support in Weight Stability Maintenance

Abstract

Although it is common for dieting attempts to be initially successful, it is rare for weight to be permanently kept off successfully. This leads to weight cycling, a practice that is associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes. The major purpose of this study was to investigate the roles of social support and sex as it relates to successful weight maintenance, along with associated factors such as perceived stress and overeating behaviors. An online survey was distributed to a sample of students from a large Midwestern university (N = 311). Participants completed measures that assessed their social support for eating habits and exercise, overeating behaviors, perceived stress, success in dieting, frequency of diet attempts, Body Mass Index (BMI), and demographics. Results indicated that women reported higher frequency of diet attempts, more overeating behaviors, higher perceived stress, lower success in dieting, and lower BMI scores than did men. Women were not any more or less likely than men to receive social support for eating habits and exercise. Contrary to the hypothesis, social support for eating behaviors (both encouragement and discouragement) was a negative predictor of success in dieting, and a positive predictor of frequency of diet attempts, overeating behaviors, perceived stress, and BMI. Social support for exercise was a positive predictor of success in dieting, and a negative predictor of frequency of diet attempts, overeating behaviors, perceived stress, and BMI. Overall, this study established that there is a relationship between social support and behaviors associated with successful weight maintenance. Future research should try to establish if social support is a causal factor in dieting attempts, success in dieting, overeating behaviors, and BMI, while carefully controlling for sex effects.