Parental Factors Related to Health Behaviors Among Children and Adolescents With and Without Developmental Disabilities Engaged in Weight Management Treatment

It is estimated that 19% of children between the ages of 2-19 years are considered obese in the United States (e.g., body mass index ≥ 95th percentile), and obesity is associated with significant adverse health problems. Previous literature has examined childhood obesity with a focus on typically developing (TD) children; however, children and adolescents with developmental disabilities (DD) develop obesity at a significantly higher rate than the general population. Standard treatment for pediatric obesity is a family-based behavioral approach. The treatment recommendations often provided within the context of intervention necessitate behavior change in the family system, and parents or caregivers often support these changes through providing different foods in the home and supervising physical activities. An understanding of the current functioning of the parent or caregiver may be especially helpful in supporting these children through obesity treatment. The current study sought to understand the relationships between parental factors, including perceived stress and confidence in making-weight related changes, and problematic child eating behaviors and barriers to health behavior change among families currently enrolled in weight management treatment. A secondary aim was to examine whether these relationships differed between parents and caregivers of TD children and adolescents with obesity and those with children and adolescents with DDs and obesity. Parents or caregivers of children and adolescents engaged in obesity treatment were invited to participate, resulting in 53 participants. Results indicated that perceived stress and confidence in making weight-related changes predicted the perceived severity of problematic child eating behaviors in children and adolescents with DDs and obesity. Perceived stress of a parent or caregiver significantly predicted the severity of problematic child eating behaviors in TD children and adolescents with obesity. Secondly, the perceived stress of parents and caregivers of TD children and adolescents significantly predicted the number of perceived barriers to changing health behaviors; however, this pattern was not demonstrated in parents and caregivers of children and adolescents with DDs and obesity. Future directions and implications were discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D (Doctor of Philosophy)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Clinical Psychology (UMKC)

Grantor

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Killian, Haley Jane

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ha, Oh-Ryeong

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10355/91313

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/91313