Controlled study of critical parent and family factors in the obesigenic environment. Obesity. 2007;15:126 -136. Objective: Critical gaps remain in our understanding of the obesigenic family environment. This study examines parent and family characteristics among obese youth presenting for treatment in a clinic setting. Research Methods and Procedures: Families of 78 obese youth (BMI z-score ϭ 2.4; age, 8 to 16 years; 59% girls; 49% African-American) were compared with 71 non-overweight (BMI z-score ϭ Ϫ0.02) demographically matched comparisons. Parents completed measures assessing family demographics, psychological distress (Symptom Checklist 90-Revised), and family functioning both broadly (Family Environment Scale: Conflicted, Support, Control) and at mealtimes (About Your Child's Eating-Revised: Mealtime Challenges, Positive Mealtime Interaction). Height and weight were obtained from all participants. Results: Compared with mothers and fathers of non-overweight youth, parents of obese youth had significantly higher BMIs (p Ͻ 0.001). Mothers of obese youth reported significantly greater psychological distress (p Ͻ 0.01), higher family conflict (p Ͻ 0.05), and more mealtime challenges (p Ͻ 0.01). Less positive family mealtime interactions were reported by both mothers (p Ͻ 0.01) and fathers (p Ͻ 0.05) of obese youth. These group differences did not vary by child sex or race. Logistic regression analyses indicated that maternal distress and mealtime challenges discriminated between obese and non-overweight youth after controlling for maternal BMI. Family conflict was explained, in part, by maternal distress. Discussion: Obese youth who present for treatment in a clinic setting are characterized by psychosocial factors at the parent and family level that differ from non-overweight youth. These data are critical because they identify factors that may be serving as barriers to a family's or youth's ability to implement healthy lifestyle behaviors but that are potentially modifiable.

Using procedures identical to a study published 10 years earlier, parents of 49 children with cancer (48 mothers, 33 fathers) and 49 healthy classmates (49 mothers, 29 fathers) completed measures of adjustment an average of 18 months (SD ϭ 7.4) postdiagnosis. Between-group differences were converted to effect sizes for each study and compared to assess replication. Mothers of children with cancer reported significantly more anxiety, less family conflict, and more social support than controls. Fathers did not differ between groups. Effect sizes were small for most comparisons of parental distress, family environment, and social support. Social support had little effect on distress. Despite the 10-year gap between studies, agreement on group differences was high, especially when evaluating effect sizes (94%) in addition to significance testing (67%). Parents of children with cancer exhibited significant resilience during treatment. Direct study replication and effect size comparisons may have some advantages when used in conjunction with significance testing. Future replications and meta-analytic work may be helpful in this area.

The authors examined the roles of depression and attachment to fathers in college women's eating dysfunctions. Three-hundred six undergraduate women completed (1) a diagnostic measure of eating dysfunctions that categorized them as asymptomatic, symptomatic but not eating disordered, or eating disordered; (2) 3 dimensional measures of attachment to fathers; and (3) a dimensional measure of depression. Depression was directly related to severity of participants' eating dysfunction; the eating-disordered group had scores consistent with clinical depression. After controlling for depression, 3 facets of attachment to fathers significantly differentiated the 3 groups.

57 immigrant Asian adolescents were compared with 44 American-born adolescents of Asian descent to investigate differences in perceived family environment and adjustment. Immigrant Asian adolescents were significantly less adjusted, perceived significantly less independence and achievement orientation and significantly more organization in their families than their American-born peers. The family environment differences, unlike adjustment differences, persisted over length of time in the host country (USA).