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Social Movements and Health: the Benefits of Being Involved

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Social Movements and Health: the Benefits of Being Involved SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND HEALTH: THE BENEFITS OF BEING INVOLVED Elizabeth A. Emley A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2017 Committee: Dara Musher-Eizenman, Advisor Abby Braden Catherine Stein SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND HEALTH ii ABSTRACT Dara Musher-Eizenman, Advisor Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors significantly contribute to poor health and obesity risk, which in turn impact chronic illness outcomes. Thus, improving individual health behaviors remains a vital target to improving overall well-being. A possible mechanism for improving health outcomes is to capitalize on the link between social movement involvement and overlapping health behaviors. Targeting social movement involvement may be a viable stealth intervention for health outcomes, utilizing intrinsic motivators to improve health without an explicit focus on changing health behavior. For the current study, two samples from the college population and the general population were recruited to participate in an online survey, which included measures of social movement involvement, social movement behaviors, and questionnaires on health outcomes. Results revealed that social movement-related behaviors mediated the relationship between social movement involvement and numerous health outcomes among both samples, particularly fruit and vegetable consumption, fiber intake, whole grain intake, and average daily MET minutes of physical activity in both samples. Additionally, no movement was significantly related to greater health indicators compared to the others in either sample. These findings suggest that behaviors associated with social movement involvement are an important mechanism in promoting health among social movement members. This research adds to existing literature on stealth interventions as a viable means of improving human health and social movements as a potential form of stealth intervention. SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND HEALTH iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Dara Musher-Eizenman, for her invaluable support and her dedication to the development of this project. I would also like to thank my committee members Abby Braden and Cathy Stein for their continued support and guidance. SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND HEALTH iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 Current Interventions ................................................................................................. 1 BMI ............................................................................................................ 3 Barriers ........................................................................................................... 4 Rationality ...................................................................................................... 5 Stealth Interventions .................................................................................................. 5 Social Movements ...................................................................................................... 8 Individual Behaviors .................................................................................................. 11 Research Questions .................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER II. METHOD ....................................................................................................... 14 Participants ............................................................................................................ 14 Procedures ............................................................................................................ 15 Measures ............................................................................................................ 15 Demographics ................................................................................................ 15 Social Movement Assessment Scale .............................................................. 15 Social Movement Inventory of Involvement Scale ....................................... 16 Individual behaviors Inventory ...................................................................... 17 Dietary Screener Questionnaire ..................................................................... 18 International Physical Activity Questionnaire ............................................... 19 RAND 36-Item Health Survey ....................................................................... 20 Diabetes Symptom Checklist ......................................................................... 21 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND HEALTH v Method of Analysis .................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER III. RESULTS ..................................................................................................... 24 Preliminary Analyses ................................................................................................. 24 Main Effect Analyses ................................................................................................. 25 General Adults ............................................................................................... 25 College Students ............................................................................................ 26 Mediation Analyses ................................................................................................... 27 General Adults ............................................................................................... 27 College Students ............................................................................................ 29 Exploratory Analyses ................................................................................................. 29 CHAPTER IV. DISCUSSION.............................................................................................. 32 Primary Findings ........................................................................................................ 32 Unexpected Findings ................................................................................................. 33 Comparing Social Movements ................................................................................... 35 Comparing Samples ................................................................................................... 36 Demographic Findings ............................................................................................... 38 Indicators of Health .................................................................................................... 38 Unexplored Potential Mechanisms ............................................................................ 39 Limitations and Future Directions ............................................................................. 40 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 43 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 45 APPENDIX A. MEASURES................................................................................................. 57 APPENDIX B. HSRB FORM FOR ORIGINAL APPLICATION ....................................... 76 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND HEALTH vi APPENDIX C. HSRB FORM FOR MODIFICATION REQUEST ..................................... 77 APPENDIX D. CONSENT FORM (ADULT SAMPLE ...................................................... 78 APPENDIX E. CONSENT FORM (COLLEGE SAMPLE) ................................................. 79 APPENDIX F. TABLES ....................................................................................................... 80 APPENDIX G. FIGURES ..................................................................................................... 99 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND HEALTH 1 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION Unhealthy lifestyle is one of the largest contributors to illness and disease. Cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the US, is strongly linked to poor diet, inadequate physical activity, and obesity (CDC, 2015). Diabetes mellitus affects almost one in every ten Americans (ADA, 2015), and Type 2 diabetes, accounting for approximately 90% of diabetes cases, results in part from diet and physical activity deficiencies (WHO, n.d.-a). According to the World Health Organization, in 2014, 39% of adults were considered overweight (Body Mass Index ≥ 25) and 13% were obese (BMI ≥ 30) worldwide, a prevalence that has more than doubled since 1980 (WHO, 2016). Elevated BMI as well as metabolic markers that tend to accompany obesity (e.g., high abdominal adiposity and high blood pressure) are leading risk factors for some of the deadliest preventable causes of death today: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, and even some cancers (NHLBI, 2016; WHO, 2016). Clearly, there is a vital need for the reduction of overweight and obesity as well as other indicators of poor health. Current Interventions Although there are many types of obesity and overweight interventions and treatments, existing programs have failed to produce the significant health improvements we need to tackle this pandemic. Current behavioral interventions encourage at-risk individuals to change their lifestyle (Cutler, 2004). For adults, such techniques include self-monitoring
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