The unique and additive associations of family functioning and parenting practices with disordered eating behaviors in diverse adolescents

Abstract

Objective To examine the unique and additive associations of family functioning and parenting practices with adolescent disordered eating behaviors (i.e., dieting, unhealthy weight control behaviors, binge eating). Methods Data from EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens) 2010, a population-based study assessing eating and activity among racially/ethnically and socio-economically diverse adolescents (n = 2,793; mean age = 14.4, SD = 2.0; age range = 11–19) was used. Logistic regression models were used to examine associations between adolescent dieting and disordered eating behaviors and family functioning and parenting variables, including interactions. All analyses controlled for demographics and body mass index. Results Higher family functioning, parent connection, and parental knowledge about child’s whereabouts (e.g. who child is with, what they are doing, where they are at) were significantly associated with lower odds of engaging in dieting and disordered eating behaviors in adolescents, while parent psychological control was associated with greater odds of engaging in dieting and disordered eating behaviors. Although the majority of interactions were non-significant, parental psychological control moderated the protective relationship between family functioning and disordered eating behaviors in adolescent girls. Conclusions Clinicians and health care providers may want to discuss the importance of balancing specific parenting behaviors, such as increasing parent knowledge about child whereabouts while decreasing psychological control in order to enhance the protective relationship between family functioning and disordered eating behaviors in adolescents.

Adolescent Consumption of Sports and Energy Drinks: Linkages to Higher Physical Activity, Unhealthy Beverage Patterns, Cigarette Smoking, and Screen Media Use

“…Survey development was guided by expert review and extensive pilot testing with adolescents. 14 The estimates of measure test-retest reliability reported below were determined for a one-week period in a diverse sample of 129 middle school and high school students.…”

The Home Physical Activity Environment and Adolescent BMI, Physical Activity, and TV Viewing: Disparities Across a Diverse Sample

“…Among parents, 62.0% were female and their mean age was 42.4 (SD=8.4). Parents were categorized as primary vs. secondary using the following information gleaned from the F-EAT survey of parents: 1) lives with adolescent more than half the time, 2) parent vs. step-parent or other caregiver, and 3) female vs. male parent [26–29]. By these criteria, all adolescents (2,374) had data from a primary parent and 1,327 had data from an additional parent.…”

Parent-Daughter Relationships and Disordered Eating Among Emerging Adult Women From the Czech Republic

“…For instance, cross-sectional studies have found that disordered eating among young adult women has been associated with problems in communication with the father (Miller-Day & Fisher, 2008), although this has not been apparent in longitudinal studies from adolescence to young adulthood . Similarly, psychological control by either parent seems to increase the likelihood of dieting and UWCB among adolescent girls (Berge et al, 2014). But studies on young adult women suggest it would be only psychological control by the father, whereas psychological control by the mother would have an indirect influence through mediating mechanisms such as maladaptive perfectionism (Soenens et al, 2008) or moderating the relationship between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating (Sira & White, 2010).…”

“…For instance, psychological control has been associated with disordered eating behaviors during adolescence and young adulthood (Berge et al, 2014;Soenens et al, 2008). Therefore, it is important to examine whether certain characteristics of a parent-daughter relationship are significantly associated with disordered eating behaviors.…”