Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2021 Sep;35(7):939-947.
doi: 10.1177/08901171211012951. Epub 2021 May 5.

Theoretical Mediators of Diabetes Risk and Quality of Life Following a Diabetes Prevention Program for Latino Youth With Obesity

Erica G Soltero  1 , Stephanie L Ayers  2 , Marvyn A Avalos  2 , Armando Peña  3 , Allison N Williams  3 , Micah L Olson  3   4 , Yolanda P Konopken  5 , Felipe G Castro  3 , Kimberly J Arcoleo  6 , Colleen S Keller  3 , Donald L Patrick  7 , Justin Jager  2   8 , Gabriel Q Shaibi  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Theoretical Mediators of Diabetes Risk and Quality of Life Following a Diabetes Prevention Program for Latino Youth With Obesity

Erica G Soltero et al. Am J Health Promot. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: This study tested self-efficacy and social support for activity and dietary changes as mediators of changes in type 2 diabetes related outcomes following a lifestyle intervention among Latino youth.

Setting and intervention: Latino adolescents (14-16 years) with obesity (BMI% = 98.1 ± 1.4) were randomized to a 3-month intervention (n = 67) that fostered self-efficacy and social support through weekly, family-centered sessions or a comparison condition (n = 69).

Measures: Primary outcomes included insulin sensitivity and weight specific quality of life. Mediators included self-efficacy, friend, and family social support for health behaviors. Data was collected at baseline, 3-months, 6-months, and 12-months.

Analysis: Sequential path analysis was used to examine mediators as mechanisms by which the intervention influenced primary outcomes.

Results: The intervention had a direct effect on family (β = 0.33, P < .01) and friend social support (β = 0.22, P < .001) immediately following the intervention (3-months). Increased family social support mediated the intervention's effect on self-efficacy at 6-months (β = 0.09, P < .01). However, social support and self-efficacy did not mediate long-term changes in primary outcomes (P > .05) at 12-months.

Conclusions: Family social support may improve self-efficacy for health behaviors in high-risk Latino youth, highlighting the important role of family diabetes prevention. Fostering family social support is a critical intervention target and more research is needed to understand family-level factors that have the potential to lead to long-term metabolic and psychosocial outcome in vulnerable youth.

Keywords: Latino health; adolescents; diabetes prevention; family; theory.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Direct effects of the intervention on self-efficacy for health behaviors and friend and family social support for health behaviors.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The indirect effect of the intervention on self-efficacy for health behaviors through family and friend social support.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The indirect effect of the intervention on insulin sensitivity (T4) and weight-specific quality of life (T4) through family social support for health behaviors (T2) and self-efficacy for health behaviors (T3).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Menke A, Casagrande S, Geiss L, Cowie CC. Prevalence of and trends in diabetes among adults in the United States, 1988–2012. JAMA. 2015;314(10):1021–1029. - PubMed
    1. Menke A, Casagrande S, Cowie CC. Prevalence of diabetes in adolescents aged 12 to 19 years in the United States, 2005–2014. JAMA. 2016;316(3):344–345. - PubMed
    1. Rhodes ET, Goran MI, Lieu TA, et al. Health-related quality of life in adolescents with or at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus. J Pediatr. 2012;160(6):911–917. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Contento IR, Koch PA, Lee H, Calabrese-Barton A. Adolescents demonstrate improvement in obesity risk behaviors after completion of choice, control & change, a curriculum addressing personal agency and autonomous motivation. J Am Diet Assoc. 2010; 110(12):1830–1839. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bandura A Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process. 1991;50(2):248–287.

Publication types