Table 3.

Emergent themes and sub-themes of peer interactions from qualitative data

Theme and sub-theme	Representative quotes from participants
“Being in the same boat” Sharing health goals Making changes at the same time	“You’re not doing it alone, you’re doing it in a group and it gives you more of a chance to not quit when the going gets tough…other group members will encourage you to keep going.” “Because they are in the same boat they know exactly what you mean and how you feel.” “I’ve lost a lot of weight, made a lot of nice friends, and they share interests, want to lose weight, get fit, work out, and eat healthier. I don’t think I could have done it by myself.”
Social relationships Building friendships Companionship Having fun together	“I developed friendships with a lot of group members and that meant a lot to me.” “Just knowing that every week you’re going to come to the group, and there’s always going to be something fun and interesting to talk about, that was something I really looked forward to.” “I enjoyed the companionship. I live alone and I am alone a lot of the time, so I enjoyed coming to group and seeing everybody.”
Group learning Problem solving Teamwork Motivated by others	“The activities were fun. We didn’t just sit and listen for an hour. We were actively engaged in the classroom…I enjoyed it and the people and found the classes informative.” “You share things with each other and you learn and grow as a person. Making friendships, having a bond, solving problems with each other, and working as a team. That was a lot of fun!” “There’s 5 of us going through the struggle at the same time, I can see how they’re doing, and they’re learning the things at the same time I am, so I can ask them what they’re doing different.”
Social support Sharing information Sharing personal successes and challenges Giving and receiving advice	“Hearing how other people struggle with the same thing and how they’ve overcome it, or how they haven’t been able to. They’re here to get more ideas on how to make changes.” “A lot of information on the Facebook group. A lot of members were posting things, it was a lot of great information that helped.” “It was nice having the PeerFIT Facebook so I could talk to people. If I missed a group I could say like “oh hey, what happened?” I could find out about the ones that wanted to share about their paths, because that was something that motivated them, you know, and to me that was interesting.”
Challenges in social situations Anxiety participating in small groups Difficulty interacting with new people	“Breaking up into small groups kind of stressed me out, and I felt like I didn’t want to do it, but I was relieved I did it afterwards.” “I know the importance of the program is to be together, but at the beginning you don’t know these people, some of us have problems interacting with people we don’t know.”