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.
Descriptors: Depression (Psychology), Anxiety, Mothers, Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Self Esteem, Body Composition, Preschool Children, Obesity, Body Weight, Questionnaires, Foreign Countries, Regression (Statistics), Scores, Measures (Individuals), Self Concept Measures, Eating Habits, Individual Characteristics, Statistical Analysis
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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