Berli Corina, Schwaninger Philipp, Scholz Urte
Applied Social and Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
University Research Priority Program "Dynamics of Healthy Aging", Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Front Psychol. 2021 Jan 18;11:622492. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.622492. eCollection 2020.
Intimate partners are an important source of support when pursuing health goals. A vast amount of literature documents the role of social support in alleviating recipients' distress and facilitating health behaviors. Less studied is the phenomenon that providing support may entail a benefit for the provider, particularly in the context of health behavior change. In the present study, we investigated whether providing social support in daily life would be associated with more health behavior, and emotional and relational well-being that same day, using a sample of romantic couples aiming to become more physically active. Ninety-nine inactive and overweight heterosexual romantic couples (=198 individuals) participated in this dyadic daily diary study. Both partners reported on the provision of social support, positive and negative affect, and relationship satisfaction in electronic end-of-day diaries across 14 consecutive days. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was objectively assessed via triaxial accelerometers (Actigraph GT3X+). Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM), dyadic data analyses indicated that providing support to the partner was associated with higher own MVPA, more own positive affect, less own negative affect, and more own relationship satisfaction (actor effects), over and above the effect of support provision on outcomes in the other partner (partner effects). The present findings suggest that the provision of daily social support in couples is strongly associated with enhanced well-being not only at a personal level but also at a relational level. Providing social support may also serve the function of relationship maintenance. Thus, shifting the focus away from the recipient to examine beneficial effects of social support in providers is highly relevant. Future research should address the question of when, why, and how giving support is beneficial.
在追求健康目标时，亲密伴侣是重要的支持来源。大量文献记载了社会支持在减轻接受者痛苦和促进健康行为方面的作用。而较少被研究的是，提供支持可能会给提供者带来益处这一现象，尤其是在健康行为改变的背景下。在本研究中，我们以旨在增加身体活动量的浪漫情侣为样本，调查了在日常生活中提供社会支持是否会与当天更多的健康行为、情绪及关系幸福感相关联。99对不活跃且超重的异性恋浪漫情侣（共198人）参与了这项二元每日日记研究。双方伴侣在连续14天的电子日记中记录了社会支持的提供情况、积极和消极情绪以及关系满意度。通过三轴加速度计（Actigraph GT3X+）客观评估中等至剧烈身体活动（MVPA）。使用行为者-伴侣相互依赖模型（APIM）进行二元数据分析表明：向伴侣提供支持不仅与自身更高的MVPA、更多的积极情绪、更少的消极情绪以及更高的关系满意度相关（行为者效应），而且超出了支持提供对另一方伴侣结果的影响（伴侣效应）。本研究结果表明，在情侣关系中提供日常社会支持不仅在个人层面，而且在关系层面都与幸福感增强密切相关。提供社会支持还可能起到维持关系的作用。因此，将关注点从接受者转移到审视社会支持对提供者的有益影响是非常有意义的。未来的研究应探讨给予支持何时、为何以及如何有益的问题。
