Crystal Smit

Chapter 1 20 social network intervention, the Wearable Lab was used as a measurement tool for children’s behavior and as a social media platform for the influence agents to promote the behavior. Outline of This Dissertation The four research aims of this dissertation were addressed in separate empirical studies, which are described in the following four chapters (Chapters 2-5). The content of these empirical chapters is similar to articles that have been published in scientific journals. The four empirical chapters are briefly introduced below, including their research aims. The final chapter (Chapter 6) discusses the main findings and limitations of the dissertation and provides recommendations for both future research and practice. Chapter 2—A social network-based intervention stimulating peer influence on children’s self-reported water consumption: A randomized control trial The aim of the proof-of-principle study described in Chapter 2 was to investigate whether a social network intervention grounded in the self-determination theory could be a promising approach to positively alter children’s consumption behaviors. The study consisted of a randomized controlled trial that tested the effectiveness of the Share H 2 O social network intervention on children’s water consumption, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, and intentions to drink more water. In the study, children ( N = 210; 52% girls; M age = 10.75, SD age = .80) were randomly assigned to either the Share H 2 O social network intervention or no intervention. In the Share H 2 O social network intervention, we followed the ASSIST approach for the selection of the influence agents. Subsequently, the influence agents were trained, based on self-determination theory principles, to motivate water consumption — as an alternative for SSBs — within their peer networks for eight weeks. The findings showed potential for a self-determination theory-based social network intervention, in that the intervention increased the children’s water consumption and decreased their SSB consumption. The corresponding article to this chapter was published in Appetite (Smit, de Leeuw, Bevelander, Burk, & Buijzen, 2016).