BIDIRECTIONAL FAMILIAL INFLUENCES IN DIETARY BEHAVIOR - TEST OF A MODEL OF CAMPAIGN INFLUENCES

Using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data spanning a decade, th is article analyzes how dietary behavior of household children and adu lts (N = 576 households) was affected by the Stanford Five-City Projec t (FCP). Tests of a three-part, cumulative model of bidirectional infl uences within the family, which conceptualizes household members as so urces of influence on each other and subject to influence by an extern al agent, were supported. Children and adults were influenced by both each other and the FCP campaign in changing and maintaining health beh aviors. This article demonstrates that public health campaigns can be made more effective if they conceptualize both children and adults as potential sources of influence. The long-term effectiveness of such ef forts can be enhanced by encouraging families, as opposed to individua ls, to change health behaviors.