Is the Prospective Link between Parental Stress and Adolescent Snack Intake or Weight Outcome Mediated by Food Parenting Practices?

Abstract

Parental stress may influence adolescents’ food intake and weight development over time, however, it is largely unknown why this is the case. This study examines whether the link between parental stress and adolescents’ snack intake and weight outcome is mediated by food parenting practices (FPPs). Participants included 400 parents and their adolescent children (aged 12–16) who completed questionnaires. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was used to assess parental general stress levels and the Adolescent Food Parenting Questionnaire (AFPQ) to assess FPPs. Multiple mediation analyses with parallel mediators were performed, with parental general stress as an independent variable and adolescent snack intake and zBMI as dependent variables. FPPs (autonomy support, coercive control, modeling, healthy structure, snack structure) were entered as mediators in the model, adjusted for covariates. Autonomy support mediated the link between parental general stress and adolescent savory snack and sweet snack intake at follow-up. Parents who reported higher stress levels provided less autonomy support, which resulted in more adolescent snacking. None of the other FPPs mediated any link between parental stress and intake or weight outcome, and no significant indirect effects were observed with zBMI as an outcome variable. Further research should replicate this finding and may further examine underlying mechanisms.

Een cohortvergelijking van eetgedrag, leefstijl en sociaal-emotionele gezondheid bij jongeren vóór en tijdens de coronacrisis

“…In tegenstelling tot de hypotheses en eerdere literatuur wordt er minder fruit geconsumeerd, hetgeen kan komen door een gebrek aan structuur (bijvoorbeeld het meebrengen van fruit van thuis voor tijdens de schoolpauze) [ 3 ]. In overeenstemming met de hypotheses wordt er meer ongezond gesnackt, mogelijk door verveling [ 22 ], meer stress van ouders thuis [ 23 ] en de constante beschikbaarheid van snacks thuis, waardoor automatische, ongezonde patronen zouden kunnen worden getriggerd [ 24 ]. De consumptie van snacks en zoete drankjes die buitenshuis worden verkregen, is drastisch afgenomen, wat logisch te verklaren is uit het feit dat jongeren door de coronamaatregelen meer thuis waren.…”

“…Het valt ook op dat de consumptie van ongezonde snacks en suikerhoudende drankjes tijdens de eerste lockdown samenhing met minder relatietevredenheid met ouders, minder gevoelens van geluk en meer stress thuis, terwijl dit een jaar eerder (vóór de coronacrisis) niet het geval was. Eerder onderzoek wijst uit dat ouderlijke stress een bron kan zijn voor ongezonder eetgedrag bij jongeren [ 23 ]. We dienen echter voorzichtig te zijn met de interpretatie van verschillen in samenhang tussen cohorten, omdat dit niet is getoetst.…”

A longitudinal study on changes in food parenting practices during COVID-19 and the role of parental well-being

“…In 2017, the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, approved the (G(F)OOD together) study protocol with the first four survey waves (reference number ECSW20170805-516), of which the last wave had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further details on the “G(F)OOD together” study design can be found elsewhere ( Koning et al, 2021a , Koning et al, 2021b , Koning et al, 2021c ; van den Broek, Larsen, Verhagen, Burk, & Vink, 2020 ).…”

“…Specifically, low parental well-being (i.e., more stress and depressive symptoms) may increase the use of easier and shorter-term coping strategies to manage children's eating behaviors, to acquire and prepare meals, and to provide nutrition explanation or nutrition rules in an authoritative way ( Koning et al, 2021a , Koning et al, 2021b , Koning et al, 2021c ). As such, parental stress and depressive symptoms may impact all three overarching dimensions of food parenting, resulting in more coercive control (e.g., using food to manage child emotions or behaviors), less structure (e.g., setting snacking rules, modeling and creating a healthy environmental structure), and less autonomy support (e.g., teaching the adolescent about nutrition, providing feedback with regard to own eating, and explaining certain eating rules; ( Gevers, Kremers, de Vries, & van Assema, 2014 ; Koning et al, 2021a , Koning et al, 2021b , Koning et al, 2021c ; Vaughn et al, 2016 ). In general, structure and autonomy-supportive forms of food parenting practices are regarded as effective as they are associated with more healthy versus unhealthy child eating and weight outcomes.…”

“…This might have led to increased food parenting challenges. Recent studies among (parents of) adolescents suggest that food parenting practices may also impact food intake and, moreover, the development of disordered eating behaviors in this older age group specifically ( Blaine, Kachurak, Davison, Klabunde, & Fisher, 2017 ; Christensen, 2019 ; Fleary & Ettienne, 2019 ; Koning et al, 2021a , Koning et al, 2021b , Koning et al, 2021c ; Taylor, Ditch, & Hansen, 2018 ). However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no longitudinal studies comparing food parenting practices before and during COVID-19 among parents of adolescents.…”