The Interdependent Nature of Mother's and Children's Temperament and Eating Behaviors on Weight

Abstract

Objectives: The family environment is an important contextual factor for parent and child weight within families. Using an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, the current study examined (1) the effect of child and mother temperament (i.e., negative affectivity, effortful control, and impulsivity) on mother and child weight, (2) the effect of mother eating behaviors on mother and child weight, and (3) how temperament might moderate the relationships between mother eating behaviors and mother and child weight.

Methods: The sample consisted of 220 mother-child dyads with children between 4 and 6 years of age (66.8% classified as low-, 25.9% middle-, and 5.5% high-income). Mothers completed questionnaires on their own temperament and eating behaviors as well as child temperament. Weight measures were assessed in the laboratory for both mother and child.

Results: Mother's negative affectivity and impulsivity were negatively related to mother's weight while children's impulsivity was positively related to children's and mother's weight. Mother's eating behaviors were also positively related to mother's weight. The interaction between child impulsivity and mother eating behaviors was significant; the association of mother eating behaviors with mother weight depended on child impulsivity. Specifically, when children had higher impulsivity, mothers had the highest weight. When children had average or lower impulsivity, mother weight was higher with higher endorsement of unhealthy eating behaviors.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that after adjusting for the interdependent nature of temperament traits and weight, child impulsivity is an important factor associated with current weight for both mothers and children. Results also provide important implications for the impact children can have on their mothers.

Keywords: Effortful control; Impulsivity; Negative affectivity; Temperament; Weight.