Original article
Parenting Style as a Predictor of Adolescent Weight and Weight-Related Behaviors

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.08.004Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

Current research indicates that specific parenting styles are associated with adolescent overweight, dietary intake, and physical activity; but most of the research has been cross-sectional, making it difficult to determine the temporal order of these associations. The current study adds to the previous research by examining 5-year longitudinal associations between parenting style and adolescent weight and weight-related behaviors.

Methods

Data from Project EAT, a population-based study with adolescents from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, were used. Adolescents (N = 2,516) from 31 Minnesota schools completed in-class assessments in 1999 (Time 1) and mailed surveys in 2004 (Time 2). Multiple linear regression models were used to predict mean levels of adolescent outcomes at Time 2 from parenting style at Time 1.

Results

Time 1 maternal authoritative parenting style predicted lower body mass index in adolescent sons and daughters at Time 2. Time 1 paternal permissive parenting style predicted more fruits and vegetables intake in daughters at Time 2. Significant associations were not found between parenting style and adolescent physical activity.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that authoritative parenting style may play a protective role related to adolescent overweight and that the dimension of warmth and/or caring in the parent–adolescent relationship may be important in relation to female adolescent healthy dietary intake. Further exploration of opposite sex parent–adolescent dyad patterns related to parenting style and adolescent weight and weight-related behaviors is warranted.

Section snippets

Study design and population

Project EAT-II (Eating Among Teens) is a longitudinal, follow-up study of Project EAT-I, a study of eating patterns and weight-related behaviors in adolescents [27]. The study population includes 2516 adolescents (1,386 girls and 1,130 boys) who participated in Project EAT-I and Project EAT-II. Schools serving ethnically and socioeconomically diverse populations were invited to participate in the study. In Project EAT-I, middle and high school students from 31 Minnesota schools completed

Parenting style variables

Four parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful) were created using adolescents' reports of parenting characteristics in EAT-I data and based on Baumrind [19] and Maccoby's [20] conceptualization of parenting styles. Parent responsiveness was measured by two items assessing “caring” and “communication”[30]. The caring item asked, separately for mothers and fathers, “How much do you feel your mother/father cares about you?” The communication item asked, separately

Probabilities of parenting style by adolescent demographics

At Time 1, the prevalence of maternal parenting styles did not differ (p = .560) between sons and daughters; authoritative parenting style was the most common (Table 2). In contrast, significant differences (p < .001) were found for paternal parenting style across adolescent sex. For fathers of girls, the most prevalent parenting style was authoritarian (35.6%), whereas for fathers of boys, the most prevalent parenting style was authoritative (34.5%), based on adolescent reports.

Relationship between parenting style and adolescent outcomes

In all

Discussion

The present study explored the 5-year longitudinal associations between parenting style and adolescent BMI, dietary intake, and physical activity. The findings suggest that maternal authoritative parenting style may play a protective role related to BMI in sons and daughters; that maternal authoritarian parenting style is a risk factor related to BMI in sons; and that maternal neglectful parenting style is a risk factor related to BMI in daughters. Among sons, maternal authoritative parenting

Conclusion

This study found that maternal authoritative parenting style predicted lower BMI in sons and daughters, and that paternal permissive parenting style predicted healthier dietary intake in daughters. Future research should continue to look at the effect of parenting style on adolescent BMI to provide new insight into the complex dynamics of the home environment on adolescents' weight and weight-related behaviors. In particular, it would be important to examine further the relationship between

Acknowledgments

The research is supported by a grant from the Maternal and Child Health Program (Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, grant number MCJ-27034. Dr. Neumark-Sztainer is Principal Investigator. Dr. Berge is supported by a grant from Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) Grant administered by the Deborah E. Powell Center for Women's Health at the University of Minnesota, grant number

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    The content of the manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Maternal and Child Health Program, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development or the National Institutes of Health.

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