Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #103617

Amy Harley, PhD, MPH, RD, School of Public Health, Harvard University, SM 336, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115, 617-582-8292, harley.13@osu.edu

Social support for exercise is an important interpersonal determinant of women's physical activity participation. However, the specific types of social support that are effective for different groups of women and their influence on physical activity level has not been fully elucidated. This study examined the sources and types of social support for physically active African American women between the ages of 25 and 45 using grounded theory. In-depth, one-on-one interviews with fifteen women who had been physically active at nationally recommended levels for at least one year were conducted. Six types of companions emerged as influential in the women's experience. These six types of companions functioned in four different roles: Motivational, Social, Facilitation and Instructional. While each woman varied in the number and types of support she received, the presence of social support for exercise was universal among the women in the study. Further, it was discovered that women without social support created virtual support through the encouragement of trainers on exercise videos and motivation from the exercise participants on those videos. These findings are an important contribution to the understanding of social support sources and types for physical activity and implications for intervention development and practice will be presented.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to

• Describe the sources of social support for exercise among physically active African American women.
• Discuss the types and functions of social support.
• Identify the implications of understanding the types and sources of social support for interventions and program development.

Keywords: African American, Physical Activity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation