Psychological Determinants of Continued Obesity One-Year Postbariatric Surgery.

OBJECTIVE: Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for obesity; however, an estimated 20% of patients do not experience significant weight loss postsurgery. This study examined the interaction of potential psychological factors and their mediating effects on the emotional eating of individuals one-year postbariatric surgery. METHOD: Three-hundred and sixty-six obese individuals (348 females; 95.1%) with a body mass index greater than 30 kg/m2 (M = 39.14; SD = 7.67) completed the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Brief Cope, the Big-Five Mini-Marker of Personality, and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire R-18. RESULTS: The variance accounted for in emotional eating by age and 12 psychological factors were assessed via a four-step hierarchical multiple regression. Avoidant coping and the personality traits of extraversion, agreeableness, and in contrast to that hypothesized, emotional stability were significant predictors of emotional eating. Avoidant coping partially mediated the relationships of extraversion and emotional stability with emotional eating and fully mediated the relationship of agreeableness. CONCLUSION: Certain personality traits may influence the preferred coping style chosen by individuals who experience continued obesity after bariatric surgery. Additional supports and tailored interventions that are matched with the needs of this population may subsequently be necessary to overcome emotional eating and improve weight loss.

The mediating and moderating role of planning on mothers' decisions for early childhood dietary behaviours.

OBJECTIVE: Examine the roles of action and coping planning on the intention-behaviour relationship for mothers' decisions for their young children's dietary behaviours. DESIGN: Prospective design with two waves of data collection, one week apart. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mothers (N = 197, Mage = 34.39, SD = 5.65) of children aged 2-3 years completed a main questionnaire assessing planning constructs and intentions, and a one-week follow-up of the target behaviours - 'healthy eating' and 'discretionary choices'. RESULTS: Intention was the strongest predictor of behaviour for both dietary behaviours. For healthy eating, intention moderated the indirect relationship between intention-behaviour via planning; coping planning was less important when intention was strong. Further, intention was not a direct predictor of behaviour when intention was relatively low. Action planning was not a direct predictor of either behaviour after accounting for intention and coping planning; action planning on behaviour was mediated by coping planning (only for healthy eating). Intention was not a direct predictor of coping planning; intention on coping planning was mediated by action planning. Neither type of planning predicted discretionary choices. CONCLUSION: Current findings contribute novel information on the mechanisms underpinning the effect of action and coping planning on the intention-behaviour relationship.

Investigating Mothers' Decisions to Give Their 2- to 3-Year-Old Child a Nutritionally Balanced Diet.

OBJECTIVE: To identify, using the Theory of Planned Behavior, the sociocognitive factors that influence mothers' decisions toward healthy eating and limiting discretionary choices (eg, lollipops) for their children aged 2-3 years. DESIGN: Prospective correlational design with a 1-week follow-up. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 197 mothers completed the main survey; 161 completed the follow-up behavior measure. VARIABLES MEASURED: Phase 1 assessed intention, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control; and 2 additional variables of parental role construction and group norms. Phase 2 assessed follow-up behavior. ANALYSIS: Hierarchical multiple regressions (changes in multivariate coefficient) were used to predict mothers' intentions and actions for the two target behaviors. RESULTS: Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control predicted intentions; and intentions and perceived behavioral control predicted behavior for healthy eating and discretionary choices. Parental role construction was a significant predictor of intentions for both target behaviors. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Results provide support for the application of the Theory of Planned Behavior in this context, as well as the addition of parental role construction. The findings illustrate the potential importance of developing intervention programs that account for sociocognitive factors to modify mothers' child feeding practices that have implications for lifelong health outcomes.

A psychosocial analysis of parents' decisions for limiting their young child's screen time: An examination of attitudes, social norms and roles, and control perceptions.

OBJECTIVES: Preschool-aged children spend substantial amounts of time engaged in screen-based activities. As parents have considerable control over their child's health behaviours during the younger years, it is important to understand those influences that guide parents' decisions about their child's screen time behaviours. DESIGN: A prospective design with two waves of data collection, 1 week apart, was adopted. METHODS: Parents (n = 207) completed a Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)-based questionnaire, with the addition of parental role construction (i.e., parents' expectations and beliefs of responsibility for their child's behaviour) and past behaviour. A number of underlying beliefs identified in a prior pilot study were also assessed. RESULTS: The model explained 77% (with past behaviour accounting for 5%) of the variance in intention and 50% (with past behaviour accounting for 3%) of the variance in parental decisions to limit child screen time. Attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, parental role construction, and past behaviour predicted intentions, and intentions and past behaviour predicted follow-up behaviour. Underlying screen time beliefs (e.g., increased parental distress, pressure from friends, inconvenience) were also identified as guiding parents' decisions. CONCLUSION: Results support the TPB and highlight the importance of beliefs for understanding parental decisions for children's screen time behaviours, as well as the addition of parental role construction. This formative research provides necessary depth of understanding of sedentary lifestyle behaviours in young children which can be adopted in future interventions to test the efficacy of the TPB mechanisms in changing parental behaviour for their child's health. STATEMENT OF CONTRIBUTION: What is already known on this subject? Identifying determinants of child screen time behaviour is vital to the health of young people. Social-cognitive and parental role constructions are key influences of parental decision-making. Little is known about the processes guiding parents' decisions to limit their child's screen time. What does this study add? Parental role construction and TPB social-cognitive factors influence parental decisions. The beliefs of parents for their child's behaviour were identified. A range of beliefs guide parents' decisions for their child's screen time viewing.

Investigating key beliefs guiding mothers' dietary decisions for their 2-3 year old.

Currently, there is no research in Australia that systematically investigates the underlying beliefs for mothers' decisions regarding their young child's nutritional needs based on current guidelines. We aimed to determine, using a Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) belief-based approach, key beliefs that guide mothers' decisions with regards to: (a) providing their child with a wide range of foods from the five food groups ('healthy eating'); and (b) limiting their child's intake of 'discretionary choices' (e.g. lollies). Mothers (N = 197, M age = 34.39, SD = 5.65) completed a main questionnaire either online or on hard copy (paper-based), with a 1-week phone follow-up of the target behaviours (N = 161). Correlations and multiple regression analyses were conducted, and a number of key behavioural, normative, and control beliefs emerged for both healthy eating and discretionary choice behaviours. For healthy eating, mothers identified behavioural beliefs 'improving my child's health' and 'resistance from my child'; normative beliefs 'other family members' and 'spouse/partner'; and control beliefs 'child's food preferences'. For discretionary choices, behavioural beliefs 'maintain consistent energy levels in my child' for intentions, and 'give my child their required nutritional intake'; normative beliefs 'spouse/partner', 'healthcare professionals' and 'friends'; and control beliefs 'child's food preferences' were identified. These findings can inform the development of future intervention programmes aimed at modifying mothers' child feeding practices to encourage healthy eating and limit discretionary choice intake and, ultimately, increase the life expectancy of the current generation of children.