The additive and interactive effects of parenting style and temperament in obese youth seeking treatment

Objective: To examine maternal parenting behaviors, child temperament and their potential interactions in families of obese children and demographically similar families of nonoverweight children. Design: A total of 77 obese youth (M body mass index (BMI) z-score values, zBMI = 2.4; ages 8-16, 59% female, 50% African American) and their parents were recruited from a pediatric weight management clinic and compared to 69 families of nonoverweight youth (M zBMI = -0.03). Comparison youth were classmates of each obese participant matched on gender, race and age. Measurements: Maternal report of child temperament, parenting style and anthropometric assessments were obtained. Results: Compared to nonoverweight youth, mothers of obese youth described their child as having a more difficult temperament and their parenting style as lower in behavioral control. A logistic regression model indicated that difficult temperament, lower behavioral control and the interaction of low maternal warmth and difficult child temperament were associated with increased odds of a child being classified as obese. Conclusions: Treatment-seeking obese youth and their parents are characterized by different parent and child factors when compared to nonoverweight comparison families. These findings direct investigators to test more complex models of the relation between parent and child characteristics and their mutual role in the weight-related behavior change process. International Journal of Obesity (2008) 32, 1474-1480; doi: 10.1038/ijo.2008.125; published online 12 August 2008