Negative mood is associated with sociobehavioral factors contributing to cardiovascular risk in an immigrant population.

BACKGROUND: After settling in the United States (US), immigrants often accumulate obesity and cardiovascular risk factors. As mood is often associated with health behaviors in the US population, mood may be an important mediating factor in immigrant populations. METHODS: The Healthy Immigrant Community (HIC) study, set in southeast Minnesota, enrolled 475 adult participants in a weight loss intervention designed to reduce cardiovascular risk. Baseline questionnaires assessed mood, nutrition, physical activity, self-efficacy for healthy eating and physical activity, social support, and cohesion. A single-item mood rating of poor or fair was considered "negative", while ratings of good, very good, or excellent were considered "positive". RESULTS: Hispanic/Latino (n = 268) and Somali (n = 181) adults enrolled in HIC completed baseline measures and were included in this analysis. Participants endorsing negative mood compared to positive mood had lower healthy eating scores (p = 0.02), lower physical activity levels (p = 0.03), lower confidence in eating a healthy diet (p = 0.001), and felt less of a sense of belonging to their community (p = 0.01). Those endorsing negative mood reported receiving less social support to eat healthy (p = < 0.001) and be physically active (p = 0.01). They also accessed community resources for healthy eating (p = 0.001) and physical activity (p = < 0.01) less frequently than participants endorsing positive mood. CONCLUSIONS: On self-report, negative mood was associated with less healthy nutrition, lower confidence in eating healthy, sedentary lifestyle, and perceived lack of belonging to the community. Integrating mood management and self-efficacy strategies may enhance the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions to reduce obesity and cardiovascular risk among immigrants who report negative mood. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT05136339; April 23, 2022.

Negative Mood is Associated with Sociobehavioral Factors Contributing to Cardiovascular Risk in an Immigrant Population.

Background: Immigrants to the United States, on average, accumulate cardiovascular risk after resettlement, including obesity. There is a need to co-create interventions to address these disparities, and mood may be an important mediating factor. Methods: The Healthy Immigrant Community (HIC) study, set in southeast Minnesota, enrolled 475 adult participants in a weight loss intervention to reduce cardiovascular risk. Baseline questionnaires assessed mood, nutrition, physical activity, self-efficacy for healthy eating and physical activity, social support, and cohesion. A single-item mood rating of poor or fair was considered "negative", while ratings of good, very good, or excellent were considered "positive". Results: A total of 449 HIC participants (268 Hispanic/Latino and 181 Somali) with complete baseline measures and were included in this analysis. Participants endorsing negative mood compared to those endorsing positive mood had lower scores for healthy eating (p = 0.02) and physical activity levels (p = 0.03), lower confidence in eating a healthy diet (p = 0.001), and felt less of a sense of belonging to their community (p = 0.01). Those endorsing negative mood also reported receiving less social support from their family and friends to eat healthy (p = < 0.001) and be physically active (p = 0.01), and less often accessed community resources for healthy eating (p = 0.001) and physical activity (p = < 0.01) compared to participants reporting positive mood. Conclusions: Negative mood was associated with less healthy nutrition, lower confidence in eating healthy, sedentary lifestyle, and perceived lack of belonging to the community. Integrating mood management and self-efficacy strategies may enhance the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions among immigrants who report negative mood. ClinicalTrialsgov registration: NCT05136339; April 23, 2022.

Healthy immigrant community study protocol: A randomized controlled trial of a social network intervention for cardiovascular risk reduction among Hispanic and Somali adults.

BACKGROUND: Immigrants to the United States face structural barriers that contribute to rising cardiovascular risk factors and obesity after immigration. This manuscript describes the development of the Healthy Immigrant Community protocol and baseline measures for a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial to test the effectiveness of a social network intervention for cardiovascular risk reduction among two immigrant populations. METHODS: We developed a social network-informed, community-based, participatory research-derived health promotion intervention with Hispanic and Somali immigrant communities in Minnesota consisting of mentoring, educational and motivational sessions, group activities, and a community toolkit for healthy weight loss delivered by culturally concordant health promoters (HPs) to their social networks. Using a stepped wedge cluster randomized design, social network-based groups were randomly assigned to receive the intervention either immediately or after a delay of one year. Outcomes, measured at baseline, 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months, were derived from the American Heart Association's "Life's Simple 7": BMI and waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, physical activity level, and dietary quality. RESULTS: A total of 51 HPs were enrolled and randomized (29 Hispanic; 22 Somali). There were 475 participants enrolled in the study, representing a mean social network group size of 8 (range, 5-12). The mean BMI of the sample (32.2) was in the "obese" range. CONCLUSION: Processes and products from this Healthy Immigrant Community protocol are relevant to other communities seeking to reduce cardiovascular risk factors and negative health behaviors among immigrant populations by leveraging the influence of their social networks.