Eating in the absence of hunger and body mass index : contextual effects of stress and parenting

Author/Creator:

Hampton, Joya N., author

Publication/Creation:

Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2018

Resource Type:

Book

More Details

Additional/Related Title Information

Full Title:

Eating in the absence of hunger and body mass index : contextual effects of stress and parenting / Joya N Hampton

Related Names

Additional Author/Creators:

Craighead, Linda W., degree supervisor
Emory University. Department of Psychology, degree granting institution

Subjects/Genre

Genre:

Academic theses
Electronic dissertations

Description/Summary

Summary:

Obesity is a nationwide health concern which reflects significant disparities by race and ethnicity. In particular, African-American children have higher rates of overweight and obesity compared to children of other racial and ethnic groups. Further, dropout rates and treatment compliance are lower among African-Americans in pediatric weight management programs. Aside from the already identified public health issues that contribute to obesity development in this population, psychological factors may also play an important role in contributing to obesity disparity rates. Stress and parenting are two important constructs that are influenced by one's culture and have been determined to influence obesity development via direct and indirect mechanisms---they are also impacted by socioeconomic status. If those variables contribute significantly to eating behavior and body size, then increased focus might be placed on addressing psychological factors as treatment targets for this high-risk group. However, if those variables do not contribute significantly to differential risk, then greater focus on access to treatment and improved retention for this high-risk group may be the most cost-effective approach. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of stress and parenting variables on maladaptive eating behavior within a treatment-seeking sample of overweight/obese children. Models of differential risk (based on self-identified ethnicity and socioeconomic status) were used to assess the degree to which stress and parenting variables add explanatory power in understanding maladaptive eating behaviors in a treatment-seeking sample. Ninety parent-child dyads were recruited from a hospital-based pediatric weight management program. Authoritarian parenting style and parental feeding style predicted eating in the absence of hunger due to fatigue or boredom, and there were direct relationships between perceived stress and eating in the absence of hunger due to negative affect. The pattern of findings was similar across racial groups. However, within group correlational analyses indicated some differential associations among study variables by race/ethnicity. Study results suggest further investigation of the influence of parenting and stress variables is warranted but support the conclusion that issues related to access and retention may be even more important to address in order to enhance the success of African-American families in pediatric weight management programs.

Language:

English

Language Note:

In English.

Physical Type/Description:

1 electronic resource (88 pages)

Restrictions on Access:

This item is not available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.

General Note:

Source of abstract: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 80-03(E), Section: B.
Advisors: Linda Craighead ; Committee members: Eugene Emory; Jeana Griffith; Rohan Palmer; Philippe Rochat.

Local Note:

ProQuest digital dissertation copies of Emory dissertations may be downloaded free of charge by Emory faculty, students, and staff unless the author has chosen to embargo the work.

Additional Identifiers

Catalog ID (MMSID):

9936842405302486

ISBN:

9780438587748