ResearchOriginal ResearchParenting Style and Family Meals: Cross-Sectional and 5-Year Longitudinal Associations
Section snippets
Study Design and Population
Data for our study were drawn from Project Eating Among Teens (EAT), a large population-based, longitudinal study of nutrition and weight-related behaviors in adolescents. At Time 1, in EAT-I (1998-1999), 1,608 middle school and 3,074 high school students in 31 Minnesota schools completed in-class surveys and anthropometric measures; all students in selected classrooms were eligible to participate. At Time 1, the mean age±standard deviation was 12.8±0.8 years for the younger and 15.8±0.8 years
Maternal Parenting Style at Time 1
Maternal authoritative style (high responsiveness/high demandingness) was the most common parenting style across sex and cohort (see panel A of Figure 2). For both the younger (P=0.418) and older (P=0.877) cohorts, maternal parenting style did not differ between boys and girls. The prevalence of maternal parenting styles at Time 1 did not differ (P=0.499) between younger and older sons. In contrast, significant differences were found between younger and older girls. Younger girls more often
Discussion
The purpose of this research was to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between parenting style and the frequency of family meals. Cross-sectional results indicated that there is an association between parenting style and the frequency of family meals for both sons and daughters, even after accounting for potential confounding variables (eg, age, SES, and race/ethnicity) and the reciprocal effect each parent may have on the other's parenting style. Maternal and paternal
Conclusions
Authoritative parenting style was found to be associated with, and predicted, the frequency of family meals for adolescents. Future research should continue to look at factors within the home environment that are associated with the frequency of family meals to identify variables that should be taken into account in interventions aimed at increasing the frequency of family meals. For example, research should examine specific behaviors that authoritative parents use during mealtimes. Given
J. M. Berge is an assistant professor, Medical School Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
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Cited by (0)
J. M. Berge is an assistant professor, Medical School Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
M. Wall is an associate professor, Division of Biostatistics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
D. Neumark-Sztainer is a professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
N. Larson is a research associate, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
M. Story is a professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis