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Impact of social connectedness on weight loss outcomes in an online program

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Abstract

Obesity is linked to many negative health consequences. While online behavioral weight loss programs (BWL) are an effective treatment for obesity, weight losses are modest. Social connectedness has been found to improve weight loss outcomes and previous findings suggests that it may be especially important for people of color. The present study investigated the impact of social connectedness (structural connectedness, or network size; relationship quality, and functional connectedness, or social support) on weight loss outcomes in an online BWL program and whether Black race or Hispanic ethnicity moderates the relationship between social connectedness and weight loss. Participants (N = 387) enrolled in a 16-week online BWL program and completed measures of social connectedness before treatment and had their weight measured. Individuals with less structural connectedness (smaller social networks) had greater weight losses. Further, higher levels of functional connectedness (affectionate support, positive support, and relationship quality) mediated the relationship between smaller network size and better weight loss outcomes. Black race / Hispanic ethnicity did not moderate the relationship between social connectedness and weight loss. These findings suggest that the quality of one’s relationships, not the size of one’s social network, is important for weight loss. Future studies may examine whether online BWL programs that build relationship quality and affectionate and positive support in participants’ existing social networks improve overall weight loss outcomes.

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Funding

The research is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through an award administered by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK111232). The sponsor had no role in the study design or in the writing of this report. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03396653.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA

    Carnisha M. Gilder, Tania Huedo-Medina, Kristen Cooksey-Stowers, Jeanne M. McCaffery, Kayla O’Connor & Tricia M. Leahey

  2. Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA

    Amy A. Gorin, Christiana Field, Emily Wyckoff & Nana Marfo

  3. Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA

    Zeely Denmat

  4. Department of Health Behavior and Policy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA

    Jessica LaRose

Authors
  1. Carnisha M. Gilder
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  2. Amy A. Gorin
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  3. Tania Huedo-Medina
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  4. Kristen Cooksey-Stowers
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  5. Jeanne M. McCaffery
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  6. Zeely Denmat
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  7. Christiana Field
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  8. Emily Wyckoff
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  10. Kayla O’Connor
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  11. Nana Marfo
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  12. Tricia M. Leahey
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Carnisha M. Gilder, Tricia M. Leahey, Amy A. Gorin, Kristen Cooksey-Stowers, Jeanne M. McCaffery, Jessica LaRose, Tania Huedo-Media. Methodology: Carnisha Gilder, Tricia Leahey, Amy Gorin, Tania Huedo-Medina. Formal data acquisition, analysis & investigation: Carnisha Gilder, Zeely Denmat, Christiana Field, Emily Wyckoff, Kayla O’Connor, Nana Marfo, Tania Huedo-Medina. Writing: Carnisha Gilder, Tricia Leahey, Amy Gorin. Writing review / editing: Kristen Cooksey-Stowers, Jeanne McCaffery. Funding acquisition: Tricia Leahey.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tricia M. Leahey.

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Ethical approval Statement: consent to participate & publish

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Connecticut. All participants provided informed consent to participate and have their data published.

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The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

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Gilder, C.M., Gorin, A.A., Huedo-Medina, T. et al. Impact of social connectedness on weight loss outcomes in an online program. J Behav Med 47, 144–152 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-023-00447-1

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