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ERIC Number: EJ1097872
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0300-4430
EISSN: N/A
Maternal Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms, Self-Esteem, Body Dissatisfaction and Preschooler Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study
Benton, Pree; Skouteris, Helen; Hayden, Melissa
Early Child Development and Care, v186 n5 p799-814 2016
The primary aim of the present study was to cross-sectionally examine the associations between maternal psychosocial variables, child feeding practices, and preschooler body mass index z-score (BMI-z) in children (aged 2-4 years). A secondary aim was to examine differences in child weight outcomes between mothers scoring above and below specified cut-offs on the psychosocial measures. Two hundred and ninety mother-child dyads were recruited from Melbourne, Australia, and completed questionnaires examining demographic information, mothers' depressive and anxiety symptoms, self-esteem and body dissatisfaction, restrictive and pressure child feeding practices, and preschoolers' BMI-z scores. Independent t-tests and hierarchical multiple regression were employed to analyse the data. In the final regression model, none of the maternal psychosocial measures or feeding practices predicted child BMI-z scores; maternal body mass index and employment status were the only predictors of preschooler BMI-z. However, independent t-tests revealed that children of mothers with elevated body dissatisfaction scores had significantly higher BMI-z scores than children of mothers without elevated scores. The results suggest that psychosocial variables are not related, cross-sectionally, to preschooler weight outcomes; however, further research is needed to replicate the group differences noted between mothers with and without body dissatisfaction, and to track these relationships longitudinally.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Beck Depression Inventory; Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale; State Trait Anxiety Inventory
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A