Does Social Support Aid in Weight Loss and Smoking Interventions? Reply from a Family Systems Perspective

This article suggests that the inconsistent ability of social support interventions to enhance treatment outcomes in weight loss and smoking cessation studies is a result of inadequate theoretical conceptualization and operational definition of social support. Family systems theory is proposed as a theoretical framework which capitalizes on the salience of patient-partner interactions in producing long-term behavior change. A model is presented which outlines how this alternative conceptualization of social support would alter previous interventions. Preliminary evidence in favor of the proposed model is presented in the form of retrospective analysis of previous studies. Based on a desire to resolve the inconsistency of previous research, a call is made for the consideration of systems theory in future social support intervention studies.