Suchergebnisse

AbstractMost research on weight‐related social difficulties in adolescence emphasizes categorical measures of weight status (e.g., overweight/obese vs. non‐overweight/non‐obese). However, teens who are not overweight can also experience weight‐related social adjustment problems, and girls may be at higher risk for maladjustment due to weight‐related stigmatization than their male counterparts. The current study modeled trajectories of BMI z‐score (zBMI), a continuous measure of BMI relative to U.S. reference standards for child age and sex, for boys and girls from ages 9 to 15. The sample of 938 adolescents, drawn from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, contained proportions of normal weight and overweight/obese teens that approximate the U.S. population. Latent growth curve modeling was used to establish quadratic models describing zBMI change in boys and girls separately using measurements collected at ages 9, 10.5, 11.5, 12.5, 13.5, and 15.5. zBMI growth parameters were used to predict a latent social adjustment variable indicated by mother and adolescent reports of adaptive social functioning at age 15. Controlling for pubertal timing, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, the proportion of measurements at which children were classified as overweight, and age 9 social adjustment, girls' more rapid BMI gains across the pubertal transition, and greater acceleration of these growth rates relative to national norms were associated with lower age 15 social adjustment. Findings suggest that a better understanding of weight‐related social adjustment may require broadening the scope of research and intervention efforts to normal‐weight teens, particularly normal‐weight girls.

AbstractObjectiveThis study examined the effects of mothers' and fathers' emotional dysregulation and their responses to their children's distress, as well as the moderating role of child negative reactivity.BackgroundParents with better emotion regulation strategies tend to provide more supportive and less nonsupportive responses to their children's distress. Child temperamental negative reactivity may create emotionally challenging parenting situations and thus may moderate this relation. However, dyadic effects are less clear; family systems theory suggests parents' dysregulation may crossover to degrade their partners' responses, or parents may compensate for their partners' dysregulation with more constructive responses.MethodParents from 119 families with a 3‐ to 5‐year‐old child (50.4% boys) reported on their emotional dysregulation, responses to child negative emotions, and child negative affectivity. Path models tested actor and partner main effects and interaction effects.ResultsThere were two partner main effects, such that when fathers were more dysregulated, mothers reported providing more supportive and fewer nonsupportive responses to their children. Additionally, two interaction effects were found. Maternal dysregulation was related to increased maternal nonsupport only when child negative affectivity was low. Maternal dysregulation was also related to greater maternal support only when child negative affectivity was high.ConclusionOur findings demonstrate the importance of parent gender roles and compensatory processes.ImplicationsThese results provide enhanced understanding of coparenting dynamics and the combined impact of mother, father, and child negativity, which can be used by practitioners.