Examination of physical activity, barriers, and wellbeing in mothers within one year of giving birth

Abstract

Many new moms express a desire to be physically active but encounter a variety of barriers, such as lack of perceived social support. Different types of support might be needed for new mothers to be active (e.g., for exercise- or postpartum-related barriers). While social support (SS) has been shown to improve physical activity and well-being, there is a need to understand moderators of these relationships. Exercise-related cognitive errors (ECEs) bias how accurately individuals view their physical activity and might impact the support-activity relationship. It was hypothesized that ECEs and social support would interact to predict physical activity, barrier self-efficacy, and psychological well-being in the first year after giving birth. New moms (N= 268, Mage=29.96 years ± 6.12) completed a self-reported survey using the ECE questionnaire (ECE-Q), Social Support for Exercise scale (SSES; 2 subscales family and friends), a modified Postpartum Support questionnaire (PSSQ; 2 subscales: family and friends), Psychological Well-being scale (PWBS), barrier self-efficacy, and the short form International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). SSES friends individually predicted physical activity bouts (B = .270, p < .001; R2 =.06, p < .001) beyond covariates. SSES family (B = .219, p < .001) and the ECE-Q (B = .141, p = .025) predicted physical activity bouts (R2 = .04, p < .001) beyond covariates. SSES from friends (B = .261, p <.001) and the ECE-Q (B = -.180, p = .002) predicted barrier-efficacy (R2 = .03, p < .001) beyond covariates. SSES from family (B = .274, p < .001) and the ECE-Q (B = -.145, p = .014) predicted barrier-efficacy (R2 = .02, p < .001) beyond covariates. SSES (B = -.288, p <.001) PSSQ (B = .490, p <.001) from friends and ECEs (B = -.121, p = .027) were predictors for PWBS (R2 = .01, p < .001) beyond the covariates. PSSQ from family (B = .433, p < .001), and the ECE-Q (B = -.150, p = .007; predicted PWBS (R2 = .02, p < .001) beyond covariates. None of the interactions were significant. While previous research has observed an interaction between SSES and ECEs in predicting physical activity bouts during pregnancy, the current findings did not support this interaction after birth for new mothers. Findings underscore possible predictors of how new mothers view and overcome their physical activity barriers and of their wellbeing.