Diet-specific social support, dietary acculturation, and self-efficacy among Chinese living in the United States

This study conceptualizes diet-specific social support from family members and friends as a part of the functional content of social relationships and examines differences in its levels and predictiveness among immigrants with varying degrees of dietary acculturation. Using an online sample of 505 Chinese immigrants living in the United States, the results show a decline in the amount of support received by acculturated immigrants in both computer-mediated and face-to-face contexts. However, acculturated immigrants need less social support to produce the same level of self-efficacy than do immigrants who retain their Chinese identity. The findings suggest that the decline in the amount of received support may signal a cultural shift in the ways social support operates to achieve its health-protective function. Implications for diet-specific social support, dietary acculturation, and immigrant health are discussed.