Child and parent factors that influence psychological problems in obese children

Epstein, Leonard H.; Klein, Karla; Wiśniewski, L

doi:10.1002/1098-108x(199403)15:2<151::aid-eat2260150206>3.0.co;2-d

Cited by 87 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 35 publications

(24 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Although there was no indirect effect, paternal psychiatric symptoms had a direct effect on the Internalizing and Externalizing problems of the children. The latter finding was also demonstrated in the study by Epstein et al 2 The absence of an indirect influence of parental psychological problems through parenting might be explained by the fact that fathers, as opposed to mothers, are usually less involved in family management practices. Although the associations between psychological distress in the parents and psychological adjustment in the children were stronger for maternal than for paternal psychopathology, they are still significant and being of interest for further research.…”

Section: Parent Characteristics and Psychopathology In Obesity V Decasupporting

confidence: 61%

“…Again, as shown in previous research, psychological symptoms of parents were more strongly related to children's problem behavior than the child's percentage overweight. 2,6,7 About 16% of the variance in children's Internalizing problems (medium effect size f 2 ¼ 0.19) and about 13% of children's Externalizing problems (medium effect size f 2 ¼ 0.15) was explained by psychological distress of the mother. Similar results were found by Epstein et al 6 and Zeller et al 7 Furthermore, maternal psychopathology not only had a direct effect on the child's problem behavior, the effect was also partly mediated by a particular parenting style, namely Inconsistent discipline.…”

Section: Parent Characteristics and Psychopathology In Obesity V Decamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1,2 Multiple pathways can be hypothesized to explain this. 2 Risk factor studies demonstrated that parental psychological symptoms are related to Externalizing and Internalizing problems in their children. [3][4][5] Studies on parental factors and their association with psychological problems in children are needed, because it is assumed that knowledge on the mechanisms involved may help us to modify dysfunctional associations, which in turn can improve the adjustment of the child.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A pilot study by Epstein et al 2 suggested that, apart from parental obesity, parental psychiatric symptoms are much more related to the child's psychological problems than the child's overweight. These results were replicated by Epstein et al 6 for maternal distress.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

The association of parental characteristics and psychological problems in obese youngsters

et al. 2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine to what extent parental psychological characteristics and parental behavior are related to psychological problems in obese youngsters. Research methods: Data were collected from 196 families having an overweight youngster (range 10-16 years old) (mean body mass index (BMI) ¼ 31.2; s.d. ¼ 5.3) seeking weight-loss treatment and compared with data from normal weight samples. Behavior problems were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist; the Child version of the Eating Disorder Examination was used to assess eating disorder psychopathology. Parental psychopathology was measured using the Symptom Checklist-90; parenting behavior was assessed with the Ghent Parental Behavior Scale. Results: Parental psychopathology was prevalent in 59.6% of mothers and 35.7% of fathers. Youngsters exceeding the cutoff for problem behavior ranged between 41.4 and 53.1%. Children's problem behavior was most associated with psychopathology in the mother (r ¼ 0.40 for Internalizing and r ¼ 0.37 for Externalizing; both Po0.01). The research findings further revealed that the effects of maternal psychopathology were partly mediated by a specific form of parenting behavior, namely Inconsistent discipline, although the effect was stronger for Externalizing behavior (explained variance: 10%) than for Internalizing behavior (explained variance: 4%). No evidence was found for a mediator effect from parenting behavior on the eating disorder symptoms of the obese youngsters. However, several direct relations emerged, suggesting a negative association between a child's eating disorder symptoms and Positive parenting behavior by the mother (r ¼ À0.20 for Eating concern; r ¼ À0.18 for Restraint eating; r ¼ À0.16 for Shape concern; all Po0.05) as well as by the father (r ¼ À0.25 for Eating concern; r ¼ À0.25 for Weight concern; both Po0.01; r ¼ À0.21 for Shape concern; Po0.05). Discussion: Parental characteristics were associated with psychological problems in obese youngsters, not only in a direct way but also indirectly. The effects were partly mediated by a particular ineffective parenting style, namely inconsistent discipline on the part of the mother. Pediatric obesity treatments should focus more on parenting behaviors and parental characteristics.

show abstract

Section: Parent Characteristics and Psychopathology In Obesity V Decasupporting

confidence: 61%