Emotions or cognitions first? Longitudinal relations between executive functions and emotion regulation in childhood.

Executive functions and emotion regulation develop from early childhood to adolescence and are predictive of important psychosocial outcomes. However, despite the correlation between the two regulatory capacities, whether they are prospectively related in school-aged children remains unknown, and the direction of effects is uncertain. In this study, a sample drawn from two birth cohorts in Norway was biennially examined between the ages of 6 and 14 (n = 852, 50.1% girls, 93% Norwegian). Parents completed the Emotion Regulation Checklist, and teachers completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model revealed that improved emotion regulation predicted increased executive functioning to the same extent throughout development, whereas enhanced executive functioning was unrelated to future changes in emotion regulation.

Validation of the adult eating behavior questionnaire in a Norwegian sample of adolescents.

Eating behaviors are related to health and well-being. To examine stability and change in eating behaviors throughout life, developmentally appropriate measures capturing the same eating behavior dimensions are needed. The newly developed Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire (AEBQ) builds on the well-established parent-reported Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ), and together with the corresponding Baby Eating Behavior Questionnaire (BEBQ), these questionnaires cover all ages. However, validation studies on adolescents are relatively sparse and have yielded somewhat conflicting results. The present study adds to existing research by testing the psychometric properties of the AEBQ in a sample of 14-year-olds and examining its construct validity by means of the parent-reported CEBQ. The current study uses age 14 data (analysis sample: n = 636) from the ongoing Trondheim Early Secure Study, a longitudinal study of a representative birth cohort of Norwegian children (baseline: n = 1007). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test the factorial validity of AEBQ. Construct validity was examined by bivariate correlations between AEBQ subscales and CEBQ subscales. CFAs revealed that a 7-factor solution of the AEBQ, with the Hunger scale removed, was a better-fitting model than the original 8-factor structure. The 7-factor model was respecified based on theory and model fit indices, resulting in overall adequate model fit (χ2 = 896.86; CFI = 0.924; TLI = 0.912; RMSEA = 0.05 (90% CI: 0.043, 0.051); SRMR = 0.06). Furthermore, small-to-moderate correlations were found between corresponding AEBQ and CEBQ scales. This study supports a 7-factor solution of the AEBQ without the Hunger scale and provide evidence of its construct validity in adolescents. Several of the CEBQ subscales were significantly associated with weight status, whereas this was the case for only one of the AEBQ scales.

The prospective relation between eating behaviors and BMI from middle childhood to adolescence: A 5-wave community study.

Some eating behaviors are associated with increased risk of childhood obesity and are thus potential targets for obesity prevention. However, longitudinal research, especially on older children and adolescents, is needed to substantiate such a claim. Using data from a representative birth cohort of Norwegian children followed up biennially from age 6 to age 14 (analysis sample: n = 802), we tested if change in eating behaviors predicts increased body mass index (BMI) throughout childhood and adolescence, or if it is the other way around; higher BMI predicting more obesogenic eating. Eating behaviors were measured using the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) and BMI was measured objectively using digital scales. To separate within-person- and between-person effects and control for all time-invariant confounders (i.e., variables that do not change over the study period), we applied an autoregressive latent trajectory model with structured residuals (ALT-SR). Results showed that increases in obesogenic eating behaviors did not predict higher BMI at any age. It was the other way around: Increased BMI predicted increases in food responsiveness and emotional overeating at all time points, and enjoyment of food from 8 to 10 years and from 10 to 12 years. Furthermore, increased BMI predicted decreases in satiety responsiveness at all time points except from age 12 to age 14, as well as diminished emotional undereating from 12 to 14 years. One implication of our findings, if replicated, is that targeting obesogenic eating behaviors to change weight outcomes may be less effective in children older than age 6.

Temperament as a predictor of eating behavior in middle childhood - A fixed effects approach.

BACKGROUND: Individual differences in temperament are believed to influence the development of children's eating behavior. This hypothesis has predominantly been tested in cross-sectional designs and important confounders such as genetics and stable parenting factors have not been accounted for. The present study aims to establish more clearly than previous studies if temperament is involved in the etiology of eating behavior in middle childhood. METHODS: A community sample of Norwegian children (n = 997) were followed biennially from age 4 to age 10. Temperamental negative affectivity, effortful control, and surgency were measured by The Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ). The Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) captured four 'food approach' behaviors ('food responsiveness', 'enjoyment of food', 'emotional overeating', 'desire to drink') and four 'food avoidant' behaviors ('emotional undereating', 'satiety responsiveness', 'food fussiness', 'slowness in eating'). The prospective relationships between temperament and eating behavior were tested with fixed, random and hybrid effect models, which adjust for all unmeasured time-invariant factors (e.g. genetics, common methods over time) RESULTS: Over and above unmeasured time-invariant confounders, higher negative affectivity predicted more 'food approach' and 'food avoidant' behavior, as did low effortful control, although less consistently so. Greater surgency was prospectively related to more 'food approach' and less 'food avoidant' behavior, but only at some ages and with the exception of emotional over- and under-eating. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that temperament is involved in the etiology of children's eating behavior. Negative affectivity, in particular, may affect both 'food approach' and 'food avoidant' behavior. Because children prone to react with negative affect are at increased risk of obesogenic and disordered eating behaviors, their parents should be particularly aware of how to support healthy eating.

Emotional Over- and Undereating in Children: A Longitudinal Analysis of Child and Contextual Predictors.

Eating more or eating less in response to negative emotions, called emotional over- and undereating, is common in children, but research on the etiology of these behaviors is in its infancy. Drawing on a large, representative community sample of Norwegian children followed up on a biennial basis from 6 to 10 years of age (analysis sample: n = 802), child and contextual predictors (i.e., child temperament, depression symptoms, serious life events, family functioning, parental sensitivity and structuring) of change in emotional over- and undereating were examined. Results revealed that low (temperamental) soothability and less parental structuring at age 6 predicted increased emotional overeating at age 10 and that lower family functioning at age 6 predicted more emotional undereating during the same period.

Predictors of eating behavior in middle childhood: A hybrid fixed effects model.

Children's eating behavior influences energy intake and thus weight through choices of type and amount of food. One type of eating behavior, food responsiveness, defined as eating in response to external cues such as the sight and smell of food, is particularly related to increased caloric intake and weight. Because little is known about the potential determinants of such behavior, we focus herein on child and parent predictors of food responsiveness in a large community sample of Norwegian 6-year-olds, followed up at ages 8 and 10. To measure children's food responsiveness, parents completed the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Potential predictors were children's inhibition and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and depression, and parents' instrumental and controlling feeding practices as well as parental restrained eating. After accounting for children's initial levels of food responsiveness within a hybrid fixed effects method that takes into consideration all unmeasured time-invariant confounders, more child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and greater restrained eating by parents predicted more food responsiveness at both ages 8 and 10. These results may provide important insights for efforts to prevent overeating. (PsycINFO Database Record