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Foor K, Ravuri S, Persky S. How shared versus unshared parental contribution to child risk influences guilt responses. J Health Psychol 2024; 29:1253-1265. [PMID: 38385176 DOI: 10.1177/13591053241233336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2024] Open
Abstract
The extent to which parents experience guilt related to their child's health may depend on their perceptions of their contribution to these outcomes. The impact of the child's "other" biological parent's (OBP) contribution to child health on guilt responses is understudied. Some models posit a diffusion-of-responsibility process, while others favor a heightened-risk-heightened-guilt model. The present study examines how perceived OBP contribution to child risk affects guilt among a sample of parents with self-reported overweight. Parents who perceived their child's OBP to also have overweight experienced more guilt for passing down genetic and family environment-based obesity risk to their child, which suggests that perceptions of shared risk contribution promote guilt-related outcomes. Additionally, risk information endorsing a gene-environment interaction liability framing was the most responsive to OBP weight status. These results support a heightened-risk-heightened-guilt process. Future work should consider guilt when developing child health interventions to avoid undesirable emotional outcomes among parents.
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Hagerman CJ, Onu MC, Crane NT, Butryn ML, Forman EM. Psychological and behavioral responses to daily weight gain during behavioral weight loss treatment. J Behav Med 2024; 47:492-503. [PMID: 38407728 PMCID: PMC11026204 DOI: 10.1007/s10865-024-00476-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
Self-weighing is consistently associated with more effective weight control. However, patterns show that participants disengage from their weight control behaviors following weight gain. Women with BMIs in the overweight/obese range (N = 50) enrolled in a long-term behavioral weight loss program completed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys immediately after their daily weigh-ins. Nightly EMA surveys and self-monitoring data through Fitbit measured their weight control behavior that day. On days when participants gained weight (vs. lost or maintained), they reported more negative mood, more guilt/shame, and lower confidence in weight control. Motivation following daily weight gain depended on participants' overall satisfaction with their weight loss so far: more satisfied participants had marginally higher, but less satisfied participants had marginally lower motivation in response to daily weight gain. Greater guilt/shame and lower motivation after the weigh-in predicted less effective weight control behavior that day (e.g., lower likelihood of calorie tracking, fewer minutes of physical activity). Results demonstrate that even small weight gain is distressing and demoralizing for women in BWL programs, which can lead to goal disengagement. These findings have implications for future BWL interventions, including the potential utility of just-in-time adaptive interventions to promote more adaptive responses in the moments after weigh-ins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte J Hagerman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Sciences (WELL Center), Drexel University, Stratton Hall, 3201 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| | - Michael C Onu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Sciences (WELL Center), Drexel University, Stratton Hall, 3201 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Nicole T Crane
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Sciences (WELL Center), Drexel University, Stratton Hall, 3201 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Meghan L Butryn
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Sciences (WELL Center), Drexel University, Stratton Hall, 3201 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Evan M Forman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Sciences (WELL Center), Drexel University, Stratton Hall, 3201 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
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Watson-Mackie K, McKenzie H, McKay F. Are mothers under lunchbox pressure? An exploration of the experiences of Victorian mothers preparing lunchboxes for their children. Health Promot J Austr 2023; 34:91-99. [PMID: 36437482 PMCID: PMC10107882 DOI: 10.1002/hpja.681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
ISSUE ADDRESSED A healthy diet is particularly important during childhood. Research suggests that more than 95% of Australian primary school aged children do not eat a diet consistent with the Australian Dietary Guidelines, putting them at risk of poor health. Interventions to improve the quality of children's lunchboxes may help address this issue. However, there is limited understanding of the factors impacting lunchbox preparation. METHODS This study explored the experiences of 10 mothers of Victorian primary school students. Mothers took part in semi-structured interviews exploring their views on lunchbox preparation and food choices. The study used a Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology and data were analysed using an inductive, thematic approach. RESULTS Analysis of the interviews yielded four main themes. (i) Mothers experienced a range of non-nutritional barriers that impacted the food choices they made for their children. (ii) Children's preferences influenced parental food choices. (iii) Mothers experienced and/or perceived judgement about the food choices they make for their children. And (iv) Mothers identified a lack of support and information from schools about what was appropriate for school lunch. CONCLUSION Findings of this study indicate that mothers are concerned with balancing nutrition and child preferences within the broader context of guidelines, perceived or real judgement and income constraints. SO WHAT?: The school environment may be an ideal setting to promote healthy eating but support for parents is needed. This is the first study in Victoria exploring mothers' perspectives on lunchbox preparation and provides initial information on which future research can build.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberley Watson-Mackie
- School of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia
| | - Hayley McKenzie
- School of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.,Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia
| | - Fiona McKay
- School of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.,Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia
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Luck T, Luck-Sikorski C. The wide variety of reasons for feeling guilty in adults: findings from a large cross-sectional web-based survey. BMC Psychol 2022; 10:198. [PMID: 35962455 PMCID: PMC9373443 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-022-00908-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Experiencing some sort of guilt is a common phenomenon in adulthood. As feeling guilty is usually unpleasant and may even lead to further negative psychological consequences like depression, the aim of this study was to provide comprehensive information on the reasons for such feelings in adults. METHODS A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted between May 2019 and April 2020, collecting qualitative information on reasons for feeling guilty in n = 604 adults (mean/SD age = 45.3/16.4 years; n = 346/57.3% women, n = 255/42.2% men and n = 3/0.5% adults without identification with a particular gender). Stated reasons were inductively classified into (super-)/categories, and information on frequency and percentage (total, gender- and age-specific) for each of these (super-)/categories was provided. RESULTS Participants altogether stated 1515 reasons for feeling guilty that were classified into 12 supercategories and 49 categories. "Telling lies/withholding truth/information" followed by "Not spending (enough) time with family (members)/Not taking (enough) care of family (members)/not being there for family (members)" were the most frequent categories of reasons for feeling guilty in the sample. Guilt feelings explicitly referring to "religious beliefs" or a "subjectively perceived more general responsibility'" (e.g., for society, humankind, problems of the world), by contrast, were of minor importance. Male and female participants as well as participants of different ages showed similarities but also several differences in stated reasons for feeling guilty. Female participants, for example, more often experienced feelings of guilt related to family members, children and to some kind of general responsibility for the wellbeing of others, whereas male participants felt guilty more often because of some kind of misconduct/mistakes being made or because of difficulties in marriage/relationship. CONCLUSIONS Adults can feel guilty for a wide variety of different reasons. Most reasons seem to be rather concrete (e.g., related to concrete negative self-attributions/flaws or to concrete social situations with concrete individuals). There also seem to be some age- and gender-related differences in reasons for feeling guilty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Luck
- Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, Altonaer Straße 25, 99085, Erfurt, Germany. .,Department of Economic and Social Sciences and Institute of Social Medicine, Rehabilitation Sciences and Healthcare Research (ISRV), University of Applied Sciences Nordhausen, Nordhausen, Germany.
| | - Claudia Luck-Sikorski
- Research Group COPE - Chronic Diseases and Psychological Health, SRH University of Applied Health Sciences, Gera, Germany.,Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) Adiposity Diseases, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
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Adapting the Guilt About Parenting Scale (GAPS) to Turkish culture: Validity and reliability study. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03007-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Xu C, Siegrist M, Hartmann C. The application of virtual reality in food consumer behavior research: A systematic review. Trends Food Sci Technol 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2021.07.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Li Y, Jia L. Don’t miss the forest for the trees: New recommendations for exploiting guilt and shame in self‐control conflicts. SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY COMPASS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ying Li
- Department of Psychology University of Singapore Singapore
| | - Lile Jia
- Department of Psychology University of Singapore Singapore
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Martingano AJ, Persky S. Virtual reality expands the toolkit for conducting health psychology research. SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY COMPASS 2021; 15. [DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alison Jane Martingano
- Social and Behavioral Research Branch National Human Genome Research Institute Bethesda Maryland USA
| | - Susan Persky
- Social and Behavioral Research Branch National Human Genome Research Institute Bethesda Maryland USA
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Persky S, Yaremych HE. Parents' genetic attributions for children's eating behaviors: Relationships with beliefs, emotions, and food choice behavior. Appetite 2020; 155:104824. [PMID: 32781082 PMCID: PMC8121139 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2020.104824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 07/28/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Considering genetic influences on children's eating behavior could result in reduced self-efficacy for healthy child feeding and less healthy feeding behavior among parents. Indeed, one's eating behaviors are typically thought of as the volitional aspects of weight management that one can directly control. The current study assessed parental genetic attributions for their child's eating behavior, and relationships between these attributions and self-efficacy, guilt, and feeding behaviors. Participants included 190 parents of a child between 4 and 7 years old. Parents' genetic attributions for child eating behaviors were lower than genetic attributions related to child weight. Higher genetic attributions for child eating behaviors were related to lower self-efficacy for feeding the right amounts of food, higher-calorie food choices for the child in a virtual reality-based buffet simulation, and higher levels of guilt. The current findings suggest that heightened beliefs about role of genetics in children's eating behavior is associated with maladaptive affect and behavior among parents. This should be kept in mind when considering whether, when, and how to provide information to parents highlighting the role of genetics in children's eating behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Persky
- Social and Behavioral Research Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, USA.
| | - Haley E Yaremych
- Social and Behavioral Research Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, USA; Quantitative Methods, Department of Psychology & Human Development, Vanderbilt University, USA
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Persky S, Yaremych HE, Goldring MR, Ferrer RA, Rose MK, Hollister BM. Investigating the Efficacy of Genetic, Environmental, and Multifactorial Risk Information When Communicating Obesity Risk to Parents of Young Children. Ann Behav Med 2020; 55:720-733. [PMID: 33196082 DOI: 10.1093/abm/kaaa103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Effectively communicating with parents about children's obesity risk is of critical importance for preventive medicine and public health. PURPOSE The current study investigates the efficacy of communications focused on two primary causes of obesity: genes and environment. METHODS We compared parental feeding responses to messages focused on (i) genetics alone, (ii) family environment alone, (iii) genetics-family environment interaction (G × FE), and (iv) no causal message. We also examined whether parental guilt mediates the effect of message type on feeding. Our sample consisted of 190 parents, half mothers and half fathers, of children 3-7 years old. After receiving one of the four types of messages, parents chose foods for their child using the Virtual Reality Buffet measure. Parents responded to questionnaires in the lab and at 1-week follow-up. RESULTS In the VR Buffet, parents did not feed their children differently in message provision conditions versus control. There were, however, differences among message provision conditions wherein mothers who received any genetic information chose higher-calorie meals in the VR Buffet. At 1-week follow-up, parents who received information about genetics alone reported feeding their child more junk food and fatty meat on self-report food frequency assessments; there were no such differences for sugary beverages, sugary foods, or fast foods. Parental guilt was typically higher for participants who received family environment information alone but did not mediate the relation between information provision and feeding outcomes. CONCLUSIONS While none of the messages improved feeding above the control condition, GxFE messages were associated with a better overall profile of outcomes. As such, it may be beneficial for messaging for parents about children's obesity risk to include content that reflects the complexity of genetic and environmental contributions to obesity risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Persky
- Social and Behavioral Research Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Haley E Yaremych
- Social and Behavioral Research Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Megan R Goldring
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Rebecca A Ferrer
- Behavioral Research Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Margaret K Rose
- Social and Behavioral Research Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Brittany M Hollister
- Social and Behavioral Research Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
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