PSYCHOSOCIAL CORRELATES OF HEALTHFUL DIETS - BASE-LINE RESULTS FROM THE WORKING WELL STUDY

Background. This report examines psychosocial factors related to selec tion of healthful diets. Understanding why people select healthful die ts can lead to rational design and evaluation of nutrition interventio n programs. Methods. Data are from 16,287 respondents to the baseline survey for the Working Well Trial, a randomized, controlled trial of w orksite-based health promotion. The psychosocial constructs we measure d were predisposing factors (beliefs, perceived benefits, and motivati on; 5 items, Cronbach's alpha = 0.65) and enabling factors (barriers, norms, and social support; 6 items, Cronbach's alpha = 0.57). The heal thful diet outcomes were intakes of fat, fiber, and servings of fruits and vegetables (from a food frequency questionnaire) and intention an d self-efficacy to decrease fat and increase fruits and vegetables. Re sults. Based on a 5-point scale (1 = low to 5 = high), the mean predis posing factor scale score was much higher than the enabling factor sca le score (3.77 vs 2.50, P < 0.001). Comparing respondents in the highe st category of the predisposing scale to those in the lowest, mean per centage of energy from fat was 22.4% lower (-9 percentage points), fib er was 85.2% higher (+4.6 g/1,000 kcal), and fruits and vegetables wer e 100% higher (+1.6 servings/day) (all trends, P < 0.001). Association s were similar, but much weaker, for the enabling scale. Multiple regr ession models, which included covariates related to diet and the predi sposing and enabling scales, explained a total of between 13 and 26% o f the variance in diet and intention to change diet. After control for covariates, the predisposing scale remained a significant and strong predictor of diet and intention to change diet but the enabling scale explained small and nonsignificant amounts of variance. Conclusions. P redisposing factors are strong predictors of current diet and intentio n to change diet. Final results from the Working Well Trial will provi de more information on whether enabling factors can be enhanced by int ervention and whether these changes result in healthier eating pattern s. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.