Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27617191›Full record

ArticlePreventive medicine reports2016

Support or competition? How online social networks increase physical activity: A randomized controlled trial.

Jingwen Zhang, Devon Brackbill, Sijia Yang, Joshua Becker, Natalie Herbert, Damon Centola

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Preventive medicine reports, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
70citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

70 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  7. Trial
  8. Randomized Trial for Weight Loss Using a Digital Therapeutic Application.Journal of diabetes science and technology · 2022
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  11. Mobile App-Based Small-Group Physical Activity Intervention for Young African American Women: a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2019
    Trial
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10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Jingwen ZhangAnnenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Devon BrackbillAnnenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Sijia YangAnnenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Joshua BeckerAnnenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Natalie HerbertAnnenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Damon CentolaAnnenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.

Funding

Training / Career DevelopmentP20CA095856 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI HORNIK, ROBERT C. · 2008 to 2012
$8.7M
NCI NIH HHS P20 CA095856
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

To identify what features of online social networks can increase physical activity, we conducted a 4-arm randomized controlled trial in 2014 in Philadelphia, PA. Students (n = 790, mean age = 25.2) at an university were randomly assigned to one of four conditions composed of either supportive or competitive relationships and either with individual or team incentives for attending exercise classes. The social comparison condition placed participants into 6-person competitive networks with individual incentives. The social support condition placed participants into 6-person teams with team incentives. The combined condition with both supportive and competitive relationships placed participants into 6-person teams, where participants could compare their team's performance to 5 other teams' performances. The control condition only allowed participants to attend classes with individual incentives. Rewards were based on the total number of classes attended by an individual, or the average number of classes attended by the members of a team. The outcome was the number of classes that participants attended. Data were analyzed using multilevel models in 2014. The mean attendance numbers per week were 35.7, 38.5, 20.3, and 16.8 in the social comparison, the combined, the control, and the social support conditions. Attendance numbers were 90% higher in the social comparison and the combined conditions (mean = 1.9, SE = 0.2) in contrast to the two conditions without comparison (mean = 1.0, SE = 0.2) (p = 0.003). Social comparison was more effective for increasing physical activity than social support and its effects did not depend on individual or team incentives.

Indexed as

ExerciseInternetNetworkOnline social networksSocial comparison

Identifiers

PMID27617191
PMCPMC5008041

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.